From the Daily Kos

Supreme Court Checks Price Tag for Supreme Court

by Devilstower

Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 01:53:28 PM PST

There's no doubt that if you're charged with a crime, it's good to be rich. It's nice to be innocent, but really, would you rather be guilty as sin and packing a squad of high-powered private attorneys, or pure as driven snow and represented by a massively overworked public defender?

But what do you do when even the best attorneys can't help? What about when you're facing a $20 million dollar fine for pollution.

The fine was part of a $30 million settlement with the government over accusations that[Massey Energy Company] violated water pollution permit limits more than 4,500 times from January 2000 to December 2006. The government said Massey had polluted and clogged hundreds of streams and rivers in Kentucky and West Virginia by releasing millions of pounds of metals, sediments and acid mine drainage into their waterways.

What if you've already faced millions in fines for getting your workers killed?

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has levied a $1.5 million fine against the Massey Energy Company for 25 violations that contributed to the death of two West Virginia coal miners killed in a fire in January 2006.

Then a jury goes and awards a $50 million judgement against you, just becuse you totally violated a contract.

The Massey Energy Company, a coal producer, was ordered by a West Virginia jury to pay $50 million in damages to the closely held Harman Mining Corporation. Harman's owner, Hugh Caperton, accused Massey of driving his company out of business.

If you're thinking that a criminal record approaching 5,000 counts and a history of screwing business partners might be something that even TV lawyers couldn't handle, you're just not thinking big enough. Why stop at hiring good lawyers when you can just buy the state supreme court?

In fact, if you're Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy, you can't stop at buying just one supreme court judge. After all, the first one might not get caught.

A justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court and a powerful coal-company executive met in Monte Carlo in the summer of 2006, sharing several meals even as the executive’s companies were appealing a $50 million jury verdict against them to the court.

So even if that judge voted for you, which he did, you might still end up facing the case again without him.

Chief Justice Elliott E. Maynard withdrew from the case last week after the publication of photographs of him and Massey's chief executive, Don L. Blankenship, vacationing in Monte Carlo.

Still, Donnie had a backup judge.

The chief justice, Elliott E. Maynard, and a second justice disqualified themselves from the rehearing and were replaced by appeals court judges

Wait a second, we're not done.

the vote was again 3-to-2 in favor of Massey. A third justice, Brent D. Benjamin, who was elected to the court with the help of more than $3 million from Mr. Blankenship, refused to recuse himself.

Ah, sweet justice! You'll be happy to know that, given a second chance, Justice Benjamin still didn't see anything wrong with presiding on a case for his sugar daddy. You have to admit, he has a point. After all, if you're on the West Virginia Supreme Court, and you start recusing yourself from every case involving Don Blankenship, you really might as well go home.

But as of yesterday, the United States Supreme Court has decided to take a look at the case.

The appeal asked the Supreme Court to consider whether a West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals justice should have disqualified himself from deciding the case because Massey's chief executive officer had spent $3 million to help him get elected to the court.

Justice Brent Benjamin twice was in the majority in 3-2 decisions that overturned the $50 million jury verdict against Massey.

Should the US Supreme Court overturn the West Virginia verdict, it'll show that you can't evade justice by packing the bench with your bought and paid for cronies. If they let the Blankenship court's decision stand, don't get too excited. I'm sure other courts will institute an orderly bidding process for buying their votes.

While we're waiting for a decision, Blankenship can stay busy with his hobby of buying the state for Republians.

Mr. Blankenship, the chief executive of the state’s largest coal producer, Massey Energy, has promised to spend "whatever it takes" to help win a majority in the State Legislature for the long-beleaguered Republican Party in a state that is a Democratic and labor stronghold.

In a state where candidates who win typically spend less than $20,000, Mr. Blankenship has poured more than $6 million into political initiatives and local races over the past three years. Mr. Blankenship has spent at least $700,000 in his current effort to oust Democrats, and the state is awash with lawn signs, highway billboards, radio advertisements and field organizers paid for by him.

Or get back to work as the top practitioner of mountaintop removal.

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