Tom Rodd Remarks   Larry Starcher Memorial   3/19/23   WVU Law School

Good afternoon.

I first met Larry in a church basement in Morgantown, in 1978, at a community meeting about juvenile justice.

I was 32 years old, and in the process of applying to the WVU College of Law. 

Larry was 37.  He had recently been elected to serve as a Monongalia County circuit judge. 

I remember Larry standing up in the audience at the community meeting, and saying: “In most cases, the best thing that can happen to a young person who commits a crime -- is that they don’t get caught.”

That remark surprised a number of people, but I knew Larry was correct.  Most young people outgrow their delinquency -- and if they are caught, the criminal justice system usually does not do them much good.  In fact, it often does a good deal of harm.

After the meeting ended, I approached Larry and told him I agreed with him -- in part because I had personal experience with the criminal justice system.  I had spent time in prison for civil disobedience in the 1960s. 

Larry replied by telling me that at age 13, he was on federal probation for setting off cherry bombs in mailboxes.

I was impressed -- this was an unusual judge, with his own criminal record! 

After some finagling -- and with Larry’s help -- I started classes at the Law School in the Fall of 1979.  Larry hired me to work for him as a work-study law clerk. 

And so began our friendship.

Larry was part of a post-war cohort of civic reformers in West Virginia who wanted to make the Mountain State a fairer, more just place – including its court and judicial system.

Larry favored the practice of selecting judges by using popular, partisan elections. He would say, “The fact is that judicial selection is always a political process.  The question is, do you want your judges to be politically selected openly at the ballot box, or politically selected secretly in a backroom deal?”  He also said that elections were ordinarily the only way that a maverick like him could become a judge.

After twenty years as a circuit judge, Larry ran for election to the State Supreme Court.  I remember playing the banjo and singing “Vote for Starcher, Skip to My Lou” in the back of Victor’s jeep in the Black Walnut Festival in Spencer.  [Demonstrate].

Larry outcampaigned his opponents, and he won an upset victory.  He told his wife Becky that they would stay in Charleston for only one term, and he kept that promise.  I went to work for him again, this time in Charleston.

In Charleston, Larry led dozens of Supreme Court improvement and modernization projects. He strengthened the Court’s administrative and personnel systems in Charleston and in the circuits. He also took action -- not just talk, but action -- to confront and dismantle systemic racism. 

Toward the end of his term, Larry’s ability to do that kind of work stalled.  The composition of the Court changed, thanks to a vicious multi-million-dollar election campaign funded by the coal company executive, Don Blankenship. 

Then, while Blankenship had a 76-million-dollar case pending before the Court, it was rumored that he had vacationed in Monaco on the French Riviera with one of the Justices hearing the case.

I was there when a Court employee came to Larry and told him that there were color pictures of the Riviera escapade.  It was a dilemma for Larry. Fortunately, a couple of brave Court employees obtained copies, and the pictures ended up on the front page of the New York Times. 

Larry spoke out publicly against what he called a “cancer on our Court,” but his calls for investigation and accountability were ignored.  The State Supreme Court’s new majority did nothing to investigate the Monaco events – nor did the State Bar, or the Judicial Investigation Commission, or the Legislature.

I’d say that was a low point for the West Virginia justice system. 

In following years, there were other events that further embarrassed the State Supreme Court. But Larry was not present; he had returned to Morgantown to begin a new chapter in his life.  He was not much for looking backward.

However, at the end of his term on the Supreme Court, Larry wrote in a law review article about how his life experiences had affected his judicial philosophy.  He worked on that account for quite a while, and it’s worth a read. 

I brought along copies of that article, and also of a statement he made on the Monaco/Blankenship scandal.  I also brought copies of two recent publications by the J.R. Clifford Project, which Larry and I and Kitty Dooley created.

Larry was extraordinarily intelligent, curious, friendly, and energetic.  On his journey through life, he created and nurtured a large universe of teachers and mentors and colleagues and allies – and friends and heroes and sidekicks -- and students and clients and admirers – not to mention a few critics and opponents.

As one of the people in that large universe, I will say for my part that we were often dazzled by his talent and imagination.  We were excited and empowered by his encouragement – and by his enthusiasm, and by his example. 

We were usually grateful to be a part of his journey – even when the ride got rough and bumpy – for example, when Larry candidly disclosed his view of a situation, when others would bite their tongues.

In my view, Larry’s life can be seen, at its best, as the determined practice of the Christianity that he was raised up in.  He took the Sermon on the Mount seriously.

I was lucky to meet Larry in that church basement in 1978.  I was usually able to manipulate Larry to my ends, because I figured out early on what a sucker he was for doing good.  He always appreciated the opportunity. 

Larry’s parting message for us would be to work for a more just, loving, prosperous, and inclusive world. 

I want to close by saying thanks to Larry for his friendship, and thanks to his family, friends, and colleagues for organizing this memorial program.