In re Honorable Williams (Signed Opinion)
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Court imposed sanctions upon Respondent, the Honorable C. Carter Williams, for his violations of multiple provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct and the Rules of Professional Conduct, holding that a six-month suspension without pay and other sanctions were warranted.
Judicial disciplinary proceedings against Respondent, a circuit judge in the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit, were initiated after he was stopped for a traffic violation by a police officer, identified himself as a a judge, contacted the officer's supervisors and made retaliatory and coercive comments. The West Virginia Judicial Hearing Board (JHB) concluded that a three-month suspension without pay and other sanctions was warranted, but the Judicial Disciplinary Counsel argued that the sanction was too lenient. The Supreme Court concluded that a six-month suspension without pay was appropriate to address Respondent's conduct and imposed the JHB's recommendation that Respondent comply with monitoring for two years, be censured and fined $5000 in addition to be required to pay certain costs.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.