U.S. Supreme Court Disqualifies West Virginia Supreme Court Justice
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc. that elected judges must disqualify themselves from hearing cases involving people or companies who spent large amounts of money to help get them elected to the bench.
Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy, held that the Due Process Clause requires disqualification when a party's campaign spending had a "disproportionate influence" in a case that was "pending or imminent".
In the underlying case, the Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court, Brent Benjamin, was elected to the bench in 2004 due, in part, to the support of Don Blakenship, the CEO of Massey. Mr. Blakenship spent approximately $3 million to help then candidate Benjamin defeat Democrat incumbant Justice Warren McGraw. After Massey was hit with a $50 million dollar state court jury verdict, it appealed the decision to the West Virginia Supreme Court where Chief Justice Benjamin was part of a 3-2 majority which overruled the jury's verdict against Massey.
While the Supreme Court majority opinion did not state "how much was too much" before a justice must recuse himself, Justice Kennedy ruled that in this case there was a "serious, objective risk, of actual bias".
Thirty-nine states elect their state supreme court justices, including Texas. Today's decision will most certainly cause an increase in the number of recusal motions filed before those judges hearing cases in which one or more of the parties have spent significant amounts of money to help them get elected to the bench. The issue now is how much is too much.
