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When a federal magistrate deems the behavior of state officials to have been so extraordinary as to top anything he has heard in more than 15 years as a state and federal judge, it is tempting to respond "Welcome to West Virginia."
After all, the fraud, abuse and corruption that was supposed to have been rooted out in 2014 was legendary -- we had a national reputation that still haunts us when those in Washington, D.C., are considering whether they should send us money.
But what U.S. Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn learned in testimony regarding a lawsuit against the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation and multiple county commissions in the Southern Region made him declare he had never encountered such a situation. In fact, "The testimony ... stands out as some of the most remarkable testimony that the undersigned has heard," Aboulhosn wrote. "... The failure to preserve the evidence that was destroyed in this case was intentionally done and not simply an oversight by the witnesses. The court does not make that statement flippantly but after much thought and reflection of the disturbing testimony that took place that day."
While it appears the mess was already being made when Corrections Commissioner Brad Douglas took over, he is shouldering much of the blame -- and consequences. Aboulhosn took the unusual step of proposing that U.S. District Judge Frank W. Volk confirm his finding and recommended that Volk grant the plaintiff's request for default judgment against the Division of Corrections.
This isn't the transparent, accountable and responsible government we were all promised.
And while elected officials can (and should) point the finger at King Bureaucracy, there is fault to go around.
Now, as we learn our state officials are still behaving in a way embarrassing enough to shock a federal judge, the people we elected to represent us in Charleston must know -- they are running out of time to get that house in order.