By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON — Margaret Workman, a former justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, accused the agency that recently admonished two circuit court judges following their speaking out on child abuse and foster care problems of sending a “chilling message to the entire judiciary.”
In a post on social media over the weekend, Workman said the admonishment of 3rd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Tim Sweeney and 8th Judicial Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers by the state Judicial Investigation Commission earlier in June following certain actions regarding Child Protective Service and foster care issues and media interviews was unfair to both jurists.
“The recent disciplinary actions against Circuit Court Judges Maryclaire Akers and Tim Sweeney for their public criticism of the failures of child abuse and neglect system represent a troubling misunderstanding of judicial responsibility and a dangerous prioritization of institutional comfort over child safety,” Workman said. “These sanctions don’t protect judicial integrity–they undermine it by silencing the very voices most qualified to identify systemic problems harming and endangering the most vulnerable children.”