Benjamin, Brent hon
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</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.960000038147px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Don Blankenship is notorious in West Virginia, and he’s gained <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/04/15/blankenship-damage-control/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">increased recognition nationally</a> following the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/us/07westvirginia.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">deadly explosion</a> at his company’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, WV, the worst U.S. coal disaster in 40 years. As the chairman and CEO of Massey Energy, Blankenship is an <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/04/12/blankenship-silly-safety/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">anti-regulatory</a>, <a href="http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2009/06/19/blankenship-challenges-hansen-to-global-warming-debate/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">science-denying</a>, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-10/massey-s-blankenship-fought-regulators-town-maid-as-coal-ceo.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">unrepentant right-wing capitalist</a> coal baron. Just as significantly, he wields tremendous political power in West Virginia and even <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/04/massey_energy_blankenship.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">bought a state Supreme Court seat in 2004</a>. As Ian Millhiser<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/06/08/44401/judge-for-sale/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">explained</a> last year:</p><div id="in-content-ad" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.960000038147px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 22.4400005340576px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 3em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.960000038147px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 22.4400005340576px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline;">When West Virginia coal overlord Don Blankenship’s company lost a $50 million verdict to one of its competitors, Blankenship set out to buy a judge. Rather than appeal his case to a fair tribunal, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Blankenship spent $3 million to elect a friendly lawyer to the West Virginia Supreme Court, even running ads accusing the lawyer’s opponent of voting to free an incarcerated child rapist, and of allowing that rapist to work in a public school</strong>. Once elected by a Blankenship-funded campaign, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">the newly-minted justice cast the deciding vote overturning the verdict against Blankenship’s company</strong>.</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.960000038147px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court made clear that justice is not for sale, ruling that Blankenship’s judge, Brent Benjamin, should have recused himself because the conflict of interest was so “<a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/08pdf/08-22.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">extreme</a>.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">” (Justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas dissented.)</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.960000038147px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Blankenship is now trying to extend his control of the federal government by getting involved in West Virginia’s congressional elections, via Republican candidates Spike Maynard and David McKinley. As the AP <a href="http://wvgazette.com/News/201007250097" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">reported</a> on Sunday:</p></div><div><font size="4">
</font></div><div><font size="4">=</font></div><div><font size="4">http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/04/massey_energy_blankenship.html</font><div><font size="4">
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</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4">As deep as Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine goes into West Virginia's mountains, the company reaches even farther across the state. One measure: In 2004, Massey CEO <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=102864&p=irol-govBio&ID=140028" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 116, 204); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">Don Blankenship</a> essentially bought a state supreme court seat.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.70588; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
The case drew a line on how far money can go in judicial elections. It made Blankenship a poster child for</span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.70588; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="http://www.justiceatstake.org/newsroom/press_releases.cfm/justice_at_stake_praises_west_virginia_court_legislation?show=news&newsID=7026" style="font-size: large; font-family: inherit; line-height: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 116, 204); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">advocates of tighter restrictions</a><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.70588; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. And author John Grisham said on</span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.70588; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22896642#22896642" style="font-size: large; font-family: inherit; line-height: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 116, 204); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">NBC-TV's <em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The Today Show</em></a><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.70588; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.70588; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">that it was a model for his 2008 novel</span><em style="font-size: large; font-family: inherit; line-height: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Appeal</em><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.70588; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><font size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Blankenship poured in </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">$3 million, to unseat a justice he expected would rule against Massey in a lawsuit. I</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">t was so much money, his strategy backfired. Last year, </span><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/08pdf/08-22.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 116, 204); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">the U.S. Supreme Court ruled</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> that the newly elected state justice was too tainted by Blankenship's money to rule on the case.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4">The chronology:</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4">In 1998, Hugh Caperton, president of Harman Coal Co, sued Massey. He alleged it had committed fraud and destroyed Harman. In 2002, Caperton won in trial court. The jury said Massey should pay Harman $50 million. Massey appealed.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4">In 2004, with the case headed to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, Blankenship was determined to oust a probable opponent, Democratic Justice Warren McGraw, in favor of a likely ally, Republican lawyer Brent Benjamin.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px;"><font size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Blankenship financed an independent group, And For The Sake Of The Kids, which ran TV ads</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> painting McGraw as a friend of liberal trial lawyers and a radical who was soft on sex offenders, including this one:</span></font></p><div id="res127623240" class="bucketwrap statichtml" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 27px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; float: none; width: auto; clear: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="fluid-width-video-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 33px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 589px; position: relative;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4">Blankenship's $3 million was about 2 1/2 times as much as Benjamin's campaign spending, <a href="http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/state_election_results.phtml?s=WV&y=2004#fSUPREME%20COURTSW%20W%20MCGRAW%20SEAT" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 116, 204); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">according to the non-partisan National Institute on Money in State Politics</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4">Benjamin — Blankenship's preferred candidate — <a href="http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/benjamin.htm" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 116, 204); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">was elected to a 12-year term</a>. When the case reached the court, he opted not to recuse himself, and twice was the key vote in overturning the jury award.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4">The U.S. Supreme Court, not known these days for confining political money, treated <em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Caperton v. Massey</em> differently. In a 5-4 ruling, it reversed the West Virginia justices and told them to try again, without Benjamin participating.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; position: static; float: none; width: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); max-width: 680px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4">Blankenship's money "had a significant and disproportionate influence on the outcome," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. "Just as no man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, similar fears of bias can arise when — without the other parties' consent — a man chooses the judge in his own cause."</font></p></div><div><font size="4">=</font></div><div><div id="title" class="element" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 480px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background: transparent;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 22px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background: transparent;"><a href="http://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1183&context=facpub" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Impeach Brent Benjamin Now!? Giving Adequate Attention to Failings of Judicial Impartiality</a></p><h4 style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 4px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 15px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">bstract</h4><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">In Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc., 129 S. Ct. 2252 (2009), the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote vacated and remanded a decision of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in which Justice Brent Benjamin cast the deciding vote in favor of Massey, a company run by Don Blankenship, who had provided $3 million in support to Benjamin during his 2004 election campaign.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Despite the unsavory taste of the entire episode, the Court was excessively careful not to criticize Justice Benjamin. Overlooked because of this undue judicial civility and controversy about the constitutional aspects of the decision was that in the state court proceedings, the Caperton plaintiffs had merely sought Justice Benjamin’s recusal pursuant to the West Virginia and ABA Model Codes of Judicial Conduct, both of which require only that a reasonable person might question the judge’s impartiality, a criterion seemingly satisfied by the $3 million Blankenship had spent on Justice Benjamin's behalf.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Notwithstanding what should have been an easy and straightforward decision, Justice Benjamin persisted in applying the wrong legal standard (insisting that he must subjectively view himself as biased in order to recuse) in the face of repeated efforts to correct his errors over the course of the case. <b>Even after certiorari was sought, Justice Benjamin persisted in a rear guard action with a tardy concurring opinion and a press release trumpeting his asserted fairness. Close examination of Justice Benjamin's bizarre handling of the issue reveals that this was more than a mistake made in the heat of a fast-moving case and instead reflects grave judicial error reflecting lack of legal skill, overly emotional defensiveness, or perhaps even intent to flout the law on behalf of a campaign supporter.</b></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Appreciating the magnitude of Justice Benjamin's mistakes-cum-misconduct suggests that the West Virginia Commission on Judicial Discipline make serious investigation of the matter and impose appropriate sanctions. The episode illustrates the need for the legal system to take more seriously the problem of judicial resistance to disqualification.</p></div><div class="clear" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 0; position: relative; height: 10px; float: none; list-style: none; overflow: hidden; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background: none;"><div id="authors" class="element" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 480px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background: transparent;"><p class="author" style="margin: 0px; padding: 8px 4px; border-width: 2px 0px 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;"><a href="http://scholars.law.unlv.edu/do/search/?q=author_lname%3A%22Stempel%22%20author_fname%3A%22Jeffrey%22&start=0&context=1085205" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(96, 95, 95); display: inline-block; max-width: 380px; background: transparent;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Jeffrey W. Stempel</strong>, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law</em></a><br style="line-height: 24px;" /></p></div><div class="clear" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 0; position: relative; height: 10px; float: none; list-style: none; overflow: hidden; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background: none;"><div id="document_type" class="element" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background: transparent;"><h4 style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 4px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 15px; background: transparent;">Document Type</h4><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;">Article</p></div><div class="clear" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 0; position: relative; height: 10px; float: none; list-style: none; overflow: hidden; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background: none;"><div id="publication_date" class="element" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background: transparent;"><h4 style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 4px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 15px; background: transparent;">Publication Date</h4><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;">2010</p></div><div class="clear" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 0; position: relative; height: 10px; float: none; list-style: none; overflow: hidden; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background: none;"><div id="abstract" class="element" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background: transparent;"><h4 style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 4px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 15px; background: transparent;">Abstract</h4><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;">In Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc., 129 S. Ct. 2252 (2009), the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote vacated and remanded a decision of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in which Justice Brent Benjamin cast the deciding vote in favor of Massey, a company run by Don Blankenship, who had provided $3 million in support to Benjamin during his 2004 election campaign.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;">Despite the unsavory taste of the entire episode, the Court was excessively careful not to criticize Justice Benjamin. Overlooked because of this undue judicial civility and controversy about the constitutional aspects of the decision was that in the state court proceedings, the Caperton plaintiffs had merely sought Justice Benjamin’s recusal pursuant to the West Virginia and ABA Model Codes of Judicial Conduct, both of which require only that a reasonable person might question the judge’s impartiality, a criterion seemingly satisfied by the $3 million Blankenship had spent on Justice Benjamin's behalf.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;">Notwithstanding what should have been an easy and straightforward decision, Justice Benjamin persisted in applying the wrong legal standard (insisting that he must subjectively view himself as biased in order to recuse) in the face of repeated efforts to correct his errors over the course of the case.<b> Even after certiorari was sought, Justice Benjamin persisted in a rear guard action with a tardy concurring opinion and a press release trumpeting his asserted fairness. Close examination of Justice Benjamin's bizarre handling of the issue reveals that this was more than a mistake made in the heat of a fast-moving case and instead reflects grave judicial error reflecting lack of legal skill, overly emotional defensiveness, or perhaps even intent to flout the law on behalf of a campaign supporter.</b></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;">Appreciating the magnitude of Justice Benjamin's mistakes-cum-misconduct suggests that the West Virginia Commission on Judicial Discipline make serious investigation of the matter and impose appropriate sanctions. The episode illustrates the need for the legal system to take more seriously the problem of judicial resistance to disqualification.</p></div><div class="clear" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 0; position: relative; height: 10px; float: none; list-style: none; overflow: hidden; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background: none;"><div id="pub_citation" class="element" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background: transparent;"><h4 style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 4px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 15px; background: transparent;">Publication Citation</h4><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;">47 San Diego L. Rev. 1 (2010).</p></div><div class="clear" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 0; position: relative; height: 10px; float: none; list-style: none; overflow: hidden; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background: none;"><div id="recommended_citation" class="element" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background: transparent;"><h4 style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 4px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 15px; background: transparent;">Recommended Citation</h4><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background: transparent;">Stempel, Jeffrey W., "Impeach Brent Benjamin Now!? Giving Adequate Attention to Failings of Judicial Impartiality" (2010). <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Scholarly Works.</em> Paper 238.
http://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub/238</p></div></div><div><font size="4"></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>