The high court made hash of the bias issue
by admin on 15/06/09 at 7:37 am
Charleston Daily Mail
By Hoppy Kercheval
June 16, 2009
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin should have stepped aside in cases involving Massey Energy resolves that particular issue, but it opens the door to many more disputes over when a judge should recuse himself.
The high court’s 5-4 decision found that the mere perception of partiality can violate the due process rights of a litigant.
In this case, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s personal investment of $3 million to defeat Justice Warren McGraw and thus help Benjamin get elected creates “an extraordinary situation where the Constitution requires recusal.”
The decision stemmed from the state Supreme Court’s 3-2 ruling (Benjamin voting with the majority) to throw out a verdict against Massey that would have cost the company more than $80 million. The plaintiff, Hugh Caperton and Harman mining, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court claiming Benjamin should not have heard the case because he could not be impartial.
Interestingly, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, said: “We do not question his (Justice Benjamin’s) impartiality and propriety. Nor do we determine whether there was actual bias.”
