Supreme Court Hears Justice for Sale Case

[Joanne98]

Source: ABC


West Virginia Case Called One of the Most "Extreme" Bias Cases to Come Before the Supreme Court
By MADDY SAUER and JUSTIN ROOD
March 3, 2009—


A multi-million dollar advertising campaign waged by a controversial mining executive to elect a West Virginia Supreme Court judge to preside over cases his company had before the court may push the U.S. Supreme Court to act. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Tuesday called the case one of the most "extreme" of its kind that the high court has ever considered. The situation fit Justice Potter Stuart's infamous definition of obscenity, Stevens said, "I know it when I see it."


The case, an appeal by a small West Virginia mining company, has focused a spotlight on the issue of money and influence in judicial elections.


Don Blankenship, president and CEO of the massive Massey Energy, won successive court appeals in the West Virginia Supreme Court after a jury verdict awarded $50 million to a competitor that claimed Massey had run the smaller mining company out of business. Harman Mining accused Massey of defaulting on contracts and committing fraud.


After Harman won the $50 million verdict in trial court, Massey appealed to the West Virginia Supreme Court. Shortly after, their CEO Blankenship helped to raise a $3.5 million advertising war chest that led to the defeat of one of the Supreme Court justices. The winning candidate in that election was Justice Brent Benjamin who later voted in favor of Massey when Harman's appeal came before the court.


When an ABC News producer caught up with Blankenship last spring to ask him about his financial support of Benjamin, he grabbed the producer's shirt and camera and told him he was "liable to get shot."



Read more: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/ConductUnbecoming/story?id=6998390&page=1

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Anybody else read John Grisham's "The Appeal"?

[Staph]

2. A year ago, when the book was released,

Grisham was interviewed on the Today Show. When asked if the plot of the book was far-fetched, he said, "It's already happened. It happened a few years ago in West Virginia. A guy owned a coal company. He got tired of being sued. He elected his guy to the Supreme Court. It switched ... back his way. Now he doesn't worry about getting sued."

This has been big news here in West Virginia since the election in 2004. Benjamin did get elected, but in the 2006 election, Don Blankenship (owner of Massey Coal) spent more millions to get Republicans elected to the state House and Senate. Four of his incumbents lost and none of his challengers won. He won't influence politics here again.

But that doesn't solve the problem of Justice Benjamin. Our Supreme Court has 12-year terms. We're stuck with him and his bias until January of 2017.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. 2 of the 7 members of the WI SC are creatures of a lobby group

named Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC). They poured millions in to pur a conservative face on our SC, with results athat are already proving disastrous for consumers and small litigants.

[murielm99]

5. Yes.

This book needs to be publicized again.

[sasquatch]

4. I bet Bob Kincaid is going to talk about this tonight

[Seeking Serenity]

6. But what's the correct response?

This case is not about direct campaign contributions to Justice Benjamin's campaign, but money spent by a private individual or group that benefitted Benjamin.

Surely the solution can't be to decree that private expenditures of money on political issues may be banned. How would that be in line with the First Amendment?

(Note to the ABC "reporters" who wrote this story: the storied justice who wrote the famous line, "I know it when I see it," was Justice Potter Stewart, not Stuart. Idiots.)

[WVRICK13]

7. I Keep Telling You

Louisiana sends their politicians to West Virginia to learn corruption. I also keep telling you we are a third world nation. Rape the land, abuse the people and control the government all for political gain and cash.

[Omaha Steve]

8. I was going to post this

K&R!