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June 9, 2009

Court: Judges Must Avoid Appearance of Bias
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In another closely watched case, the Supreme Court ruled that a West
Virginia judge should have disqualified himself from an appeal of a $50
million jury verdict against Massey Energy because the coal mining
company’s CEO had been a major campaign donor. By a 5-4 vote, the
justices held that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals judge
should have removed himself from deciding the case, because Massey chief
executive Don Blankenship had spent $3 million to help him get elected
to the court.



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