Litigation

NY Times on West Virginia: ?From Scandal to Example?

By Peter Hardin

The West Virginia legislature’s approval of a pilot plan for public financing of state Supreme Court elections won  praise from a New York Times editorial, headlined “From Scandal to Example in West Virginia.”

The editorial recapped the saga that thrust West Virginia into the center of national debate over protecting public trust in the judiciary: A coal company executive spent $3 million in 2004 to help elect a state Supreme Court justice, and the coal company went on to benefit from two critical votes by the justice to overturn a massive jury award against it.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that required the justice, who had refused to step down in the case, to disqualify himself and pointed out the “serious, objective risk of actual bias” arising from such a large campaign expenditure.

According to the Times editorial, “ The 2004 campaign “spotlighted the need to reform the way states elect judges.” It called the legislation for a pilot program to publicly finance two state Supreme Court elections in 2012 “promising” and concluded:

“West Virginia, which will join North Carolina, New Mexico and Wisconsin in adopting public financing of judicial races, is setting a good example at a time when judicial neutrality and the appearance of neutrality is under severe threat across the country from escalating special-interest spending on judicial campaigns.”

Before the West Virginia legislature approved the bill, the Justice at Stake Campaign and the Committee for Economic Development released a poll showing most West Virginia voters support public financing of state Supreme Court elections.

When the legislature finished action, JAS Executive Director Bert Brandenburg said:

?In 2004, West Virginia became a national symbol of the dangers of special-interest spending on court elections. This weekend, the state moved to shed that unhappy legacy, becoming a national leader in preserving public trust in the courts.?

You can learn more about West Virginia’s legislation from Gavel Grab, and about the Supreme Court case, Caperton v. Massey, from Gavel Grab and from the JAS resource page on the decision.

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 19, 2010 (boomark / email).