Law prof to take on justices for sale

by: Carnacki

Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 21:51:06 PM EST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) _ A West Virginia University law professor launched his Supreme Court campaign Wednesday, pledging to restore integrity to the state's sole appeals bench.

Robert Bastress cited the furor over conflicts of interest that prompted the court's chief justice to remove himself from a major case involving Massey Energy Co.

"Public confidence in the courts is at a low ebb, and for good reason," Bastress told supporters after filing his candidacy papers at the state Capitol.

Recently released photos show a vacationing Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard in Monaco with the top executive of Massey Energy while the company prepared an appeal of a $76.3 million judgment against it.

The July 2006 meet-up with Don Blankenship, the coal producer's CEO, president and chairman, shows "we have a problem," Bastress said to applause.

Personally I think it's ridiculous that state supreme court justices stand for election. We saw what happened in 2004 when Blankenship bought an election to the bench with Robert Benjamin. Despite spending millions on his campaign, Benjamin, unlike Maynard, doesn't have the honor to recuse himself from the pending Massey case. Benjamin knows who bought and paid for him.

So with that upfront, I'm torn as to whether we should set up an ActBlue fundraiser account for Maynard's opponent. Do we fight fire with fire -- admittedly we don't have the millions to spend like Blankenship -- and try to raise funds or not? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.