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Impeachment Trial Blocked By Supreme Court Stand-Ins

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A group of judicial stand-ins has granted a petition sought by West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman to block her upcoming impeachment trial.

Five acting justices on the Supreme Court ruled in an opinion issued Thursday that the prosecution of Workman in the state Senate would violate the state constitution’s separation of powers clause.

Workman had filed the petition against the state Senate and its leaders, acting as the court of impeachment. Her impeachment trial had been set to start in the chamber next Monday.

Senate spokesman Jacque Bland says in a statement the Senate plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bland said the Court of Impeachment still plans to convene on Monday, even though the order prohibits it from proceeding with the trial.