Voter backlash can remove judges who sit on cases involving their benefactors
Evidence
A case in point occurred in West Virginia in 2008. Chief Justice Elliott Maynard finished a distant third in the Democratic primary following the publication of a photo of him vacationing on the French Riviera with Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy. Despite the close connection between Maynard and Blankenship, the Chief Justice participated in a case involving Massey Energy, joining a 3-2 majority that dismissed a lawsuit against the company by Harman Mining Company. In the primary campaign, Maynard’s opponents focused on this apparent conflict of interest and on the ethical questions it raised, and voters denied him reelection. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 584
Categorization
- SEED: The Maynard/Blankenship episode is the factual background of Caperton v. Massey — a natural course case study on recusal and due process.
- XREF: connects to: State supreme court campaign spending has escalated dramatically in recent decades — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 578; Voters removed Iowa Supreme Court justices over an unpopular same-sex marriage ruling; Litigant campaign contributions to sitting judges correlate with pending cases. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 420 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Elected judges face re-election pressure that can push decisions away from law
#corroborates(0.85) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 780 - Elected judges may bend rulings toward voter preferences to secure re-election.
#corroborates(0.80) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 780 - Judges seek approval from audiences they esteem, not only legal or policy ends
#expands(0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2624 - Electoral incentives can push judges toward racially disparate sentencing
#corroborates(0.70) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 792