The chairman and CEO of a coal company that lost a $50 million jury decision to a group of plaintiffs in West Virginia wasn’t about to take defeat quietly. He not only appealed the case, he also contributed $3 million to a campaign and a political organization to help elect a new judge to the court that was going to hear the appeal.
That judge, refusing to recuse himself from the case, helped deliver a victory to the coal company when he sided with the 3-2 majority in overturning the jury verdict.
On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, came down on the side of fair play when it ruled that the judge should have recused himself because he violated the plaintiffs’ right to an impartial hearing.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, used common sense when he stated: “We conclude that there is a serious risk of actual bias — based on objective and reasonable perceptions — when a person with a personal stake in a particular case had a significant and disproportionate influence in placing the judge on the case by raising funds or directing the judge’s election campaign when the case was pending or imminent.”
The Supreme Court, in reversing the judgment and sending it back to West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals, was appropriately careful not to put all contributors to judicial campaigns in the same basket. The decision that judges should recuse themselves applies only to cases in which an interested party was a substantial campaign contributor.
The high court ruling should send a strong message to individuals and businesses that there will be no tolerance for attempts to buy judicial elections in Nevada or the other 38 states with elected judges.
While campaign contributions are considered forms of free speech, they should not interfere with the rights of Americans to fair and impartial court hearings. Although the high court did not define the amount of a substantial campaign contribution that would merit recusal, judges should use their best judgment and err on the side of fairness.
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