Mercifully, the Nov. 4 election will put two replacement justices on West Virginia's controversy-battered Supreme Court - but the ugly storm over the high court shows no sign of quieting yet.

Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear charges of bias in Mountain State proceedings. Specifically, the national court will examine a claim that West Virginia Justice Brent Benjamin shouldn't have voted to save Massey Energy about $80 million damages and interest, after Massey's CEO spent more than $3 million to defeat Benjamin's 2004 election opponent.

U.S. legal groups and major newspapers have called the West Virginia situation a disturbing example. Legal novelist John Grisham wrote a fiction book based on the case. Network television spotlighted it. As the appeal proceeds through the nation's highest court, West Virginia will be subjected to unflattering attention.

Meanwhile, another gust of West Virginia's court storm is blowing. Magistrate supervisor Pancho Morris was fired Friday - the same day the Benjamin mess was accepted in Washington - and he says it's because he's suspected of leaking ruinous photos that helped defeat Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard's in the primary election.

Pictures of Maynard cavorting on the French Riviera with Massey's CEO, while the Massey case was on its way to the state court, were obtained by lawyers opposing Massey. The effect was damning. Maynard was forced to abstain from all Massey cases. Justice Larry Starcher also recused himself, because he had publicly scorned Massey. But Benjamin wouldn't step aside, and voted twice to give Massey a bonanza.

Morris, a longtime ally of Justice Starcher, declared Tuesday that court administrator Steve Canterbury and three other justices violated laws in his dismissal. He vowed to sue and seek criminal prosecution. Court officials are making cautious denials.

Also, Morris, who is black, alleges that racial slurs were uttered in Canterbury's office.

West Virginia has two judicial ethics boards - one to investigate court allegations and another to try them. The Judicial Investigation Commission should launch an immediate inquiry into this fracas.

Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit by Massey accuses the state Supreme Court of showing bias against the coal firm in the manner by which justices abstain from cases. Court reporter Andrew Clevenger says taxpayers have shelled out $425,000 to defend in U.S. District Court.

West Virginia's highest court remains entangled in three different issues involving Massey, with no end in sight. It's a supreme mess.

Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear charges of bias in Mountain State proceedings. Specifically, the national court will examine a claim that West Virginia Justice Brent Benjamin shouldn't have voted to save Massey Energy about $80 million damages and interest, after Massey's CEO spent more than $3 million to defeat Benjamin's 2004 election opponent.

U.S. legal groups and major newspapers have called the West Virginia situation a disturbing example. Legal novelist John Grisham wrote a fiction book based on the case. Network television spotlighted it. As the appeal proceeds through the nation's highest court, West Virginia will be subjected to unflattering attention.

Meanwhile, another gust of West Virginia's court storm is blowing. Magistrate supervisor Pancho Morris was fired Friday - the same day the Benjamin mess was accepted in Washington - and he says it's because he's suspected of leaking ruinous photos that helped defeat Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard's in the primary election.

Pictures of Maynard cavorting on the French Riviera with Massey's CEO, while the Massey case was on its way to the state court, were obtained by lawyers opposing Massey. The effect was damning. Maynard was forced to abstain from all Massey cases. Justice Larry Starcher also recused himself, because he had publicly scorned Massey. But Benjamin wouldn't step aside, and voted twice to give Massey a bonanza.

Morris, a longtime ally of Justice Starcher, declared Tuesday that court administrator Steve Canterbury and three other justices violated laws in his dismissal. He vowed to sue and seek criminal prosecution. Court officials are making cautious denials.

Also, Morris, who is black, alleges that racial slurs were uttered in Canterbury's office.

West Virginia has two judicial ethics boards - one to investigate court allegations and another to try them. The Judicial Investigation Commission should launch an immediate inquiry into this fracas.

Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit by Massey accuses the state Supreme Court of showing bias against the coal firm in the manner by which justices abstain from cases. Court reporter Andrew Clevenger says taxpayers have shelled out $425,000 to defend in U.S. District Court.

West Virginia's highest court remains entangled in three different issues involving Massey, with no end in sight. It's a supreme mess.