Judge Charles H. Haden II (April 16, 1937- March 20, 2004) was born in Morgantown. He was educated in the Monongalia County schools, and at West Virginia University and the WVU College of Law. He married Priscilla Ann Miller on June 2, 1956. Haden served in all three branches of West Virginia government. He was a member of the House of Delegates (1963—64) and state tax commissioner (1969—72). He was appointed as a state Supreme Court justice on June 21, 1972, and elected to that office as a Republican on November 7, 1972. He also served as a member of the Monongalia County Board of Education in 1967 and 1968. Haden practiced law in partnership with his father in the firm of Haden and Haden in Morgantown from 1961 to 1969. He was a member of the faculty of WVU College of Law in 1967 and 1968.

Haden was appointed U.S. district judge for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia by President Gerald R. Ford, November 21, 1975. He became chief judge of the Southern District on May 13, 1982, and stepped down as chief judge, December 19, 2002. Among Haden's most noted actions as a federal judge were decisions in 1999 and 2002 restricting the practice of mountaintop removal mining. His original ruling was overturned by the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2001, and his 2002 ruling was largely obviated by administrative changes by the Bush administration.

In May 2001, Judge Haden was inducted into the Order of Vandalia, the highest award given by West Virginia University. A professorship was established in his name at the WVU law school in 2004.