On Thursday, February 26, 2009, ACS hosted a press briefing on Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Company, et al., a landmark case that is currently before the Supreme Court that will address questions of fundamental due process and the integrity of state courts.

Caperton involves the failure of Justice Brent Benjamin of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia to recuse himself from the appeal of a $50 million jury verdict against Massey Coal Company, whose CEO spent $3 million (more than 60% of the total amount spent) in the campaign for that seat on the court. Justice Benjamin subsequently cast the deciding vote in the court’s 3-2 decision overturning the verdict. The Court will address whether Justice Benjamin’s failure to recuse himself from participation in his principal financial supporter’s case violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. A diverse group of experts offered an analysis of the due process issues raised as well as First Amendment issues implicated in the case, and previewed some of the points likely to be raised when the Supreme Court hears oral argument on Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.

The panel featured:

• Moderator, Professor Charles Gardner Geyh, John F. Kimberling Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law-Bloomington
• Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director, Justice at Stake Campaign
• Professor Amanda Frost, American University Washington College of Law
• Chief Justice Richard Neely, former Supreme Court Justice, West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
• Justice Harold F. See, Jr., former Supreme Court Justice, Alabama Supreme Court