Today, the Supreme Court ruled that elected judges must step aside from cases involving interested parties from whom they received large campaign contributions due to the appearance of bias. The decision is one of widespread significance, given the increase in multimillion dollar judicial election campaigns. Justice Brent Benjamin, a West Virginia justice, participated in a state court decision involving A.T Massey. One A.T. Massey executive contributed more than $3 million to Benjamin’s 2004 campaign, about half of total campaign funds, creating a risk that his decision would be biased in the case.
The case, decided by 5-4 vote, found that a state court judge should have recused himself from a lawsuit against a company who was the most generous support for his election campaign. Despite repeated requests to step aside from the case, Justice Benjamin remained on the judicial panel, depriving the other side of due process and their constitutional right to a fair trial. On two occasions, Justice Benjamin was the deciding vote in West Virginia high court rulings that threw out a $50 million judgment against A.T. Massey, a unit of Massey Energy Co. The case has been sent back to West Virginia for further proceedings.
“Not every campaign contribution by a litigant or attorney creates a probability of bias that requires a judge’s recusal, but this is an exceptional case,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens joined Kennedy’s opinion.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
