Brent Benjamin | |
---|---|
Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia | |
In office January 1, 2005 –December 31, 2016 | |
Preceded by | Warren McGraw |
Succeeded by | Beth Walker |
Personal details | |
Born | Marietta,Ohio,U.S. | July 3,1957
Alma mater | Ohio State University |
Brent D. Benjamin (born July 3,1957) [1] is an American attorney who previously served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. In 2004,he was the first Republican elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court in more than 80 years,defeating incumbent Justice Warren McGraw. In 2015,the West Virginia Legislature changed the election system for judicial officers to a non-partisan basis. In 2016,Benjamin placed fourth of four serious candidates in the non-partisan election,with 12% of the vote,and left the court in January 2017,to return to private practice.
Justice Benjamin was born in Marietta,Ohio,and earned his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from The Ohio State University. [2] After graduating in 1984 he moved to Charleston,West Virginia,and has been a resident of West Virginia for the past 20 years. Before his election,he was a principal attorney with Robinson and McElwee,PLLC in Charleston,West Virginia. His 20-year practice at that firm involved general civil litigation in state and federal courts,including toxic torts and complex litigation. His civil rights practice focused on protecting children from physical and sexual abuse. He was elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in November 2004. Benjamin received 53% of the votes,McGraw received 47%. He began a 12-year term on January 1,2005 and served a one-year term as Chief Justice under the Court's rotation scheme in 2009. In 2013,he was appointed to a second one-year term as chief justice. He is married,and has five children. [3]
He has practiced in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia,the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia,and the Kentucky Supreme Court. He is a 1999 graduate of Leadership West Virginia. He is also a current member of the Hocking College Archaeological Mission,and has participated in archaeological excavations in the United States and Egypt. [4]
During the 2004 judicial campaign,Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship spent $3 million through a legally-crafted independent expenditure committee to defeat sitting West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw,whom Benjamin was challenging.
In April 2008,Benjamin became involved when the case relating to Blankenship's company ( Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. ) came before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Benjamin ruled that even if Caperton stood to prevail,the venue should rightfully be signed to Virginia since the contract between the parties involved a mining property in Virginia. Despite calls for Benjamin to recuse himself due to Blankenship's involvement in Benjamin's 2004 campaign,Benjamin remained on the case. Following the verdict,Harman Mining's owner,Hugh Caperton,appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court,which ruled in June 2009 that elected judges must recuse themselves from cases where exceptionally large campaign contributions from interested parties create the appearance of bias,and remanded the case to the West Virginia Supreme Court for a rehearing. [5] Writing for the majority,Justice Anthony Kennedy called the appearance of conflict of interest so "extreme" that Benjamin's failure to recuse himself constituted a threat to the plaintiff's Constitutional right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice John Roberts's dissent warned that the majority's decision would have dire consequences for "public confidence in judicial impartiality." [6] [7]
On November 12,2009,with a temporary justice replacing Benjamin,the West Virginia Supreme Court once again overturned the cases,ruling 4 to 1 that Caperton should have pursued his claims in Virginia under a clause in the contract at issue. [8]
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville,Knoxville,and Jackson,Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members:a chief justice,and four justices. As of September 1,2023,the chief justice is Holly M. Kirby.
Recusal is the legal process by which a judge,juror,or other adjudicator steps aside from participating in a case due to potential bias,conflict of interest,or appearance of impropriety. This practice is fundamental to ensuring fairness and impartiality in legal proceedings,preserving the integrity of the judiciary,and maintaining public confidence in the legal system. Historical and modern legal frameworks outline specific grounds for recusal,such as personal or financial conflicts of interest,prior involvement in a case,or demonstrated bias. Applicable statutes or canons of ethics may provide standards for recusal in a given proceeding or matter. Providing that the judge or decision-maker must be free from disabling conflicts of interest makes the fairness of the proceedings less likely to be questioned,and more likely that there is due process.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions,appeals from lower courts,and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin.
Massey Energy Company was a coal extractor in the United States with substantial operations in West Virginia,Kentucky and Virginia. By revenue,it was the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia. By coal production weight,it was the sixth largest producer of coal in the United States.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia,the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston,although from 1873 to 1915,it was also required by state law to hold sessions in Charles Town in the state's Eastern Panhandle. The court also holds special sittings at various locations across the state.
Warren Randolph McGraw was an American lawyer,politician,and judge in West Virginia and brother of former West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw.
Donald Leon Blankenship is an American businessman. He was chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth-largest coal company in the United States—from 2000 until 2010 when an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine resulted in the death of 29 workers. He served one year in prison for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards.
Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard was an American lawyer and former judge from West Virginia. In 1996 he was elected as a Democrat to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. A judge of West Virginia's 30th Judicial Circuit for over 16 years,he was elected as a Democrat to a 12-year term on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in 1996.
Margaret Lee Workman is an American lawyer and a former justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Her 1988 election to the Supreme Court made her the first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia and first female Justice on the Court.
The Appeal is a 2008 novel by John Grisham,his 21st book and his first fictional legal thriller since The Broker in 2005. The novel explores the interplay of corporate power,politics,and judicial ethics in the U.S. legal system,focusing on the influence of money in judicial elections.
Richard Forlani Neely was a justice and chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals from 1973 to 1995. When he took office,he became the youngest judge of a court of last resort in the English-speaking world in the 20th century.
Menis E. Ketchum II is an American politician and jurist who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He was elected as a Democrat to a twelve-year term on the Court in November 2008 and served as chief justice in 2012 and served a second term as chief justice in 2016. He resigned in July 2018 with slightly less than 18 months left in his term. Ketchum resigned prior to the Impeachment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia,but was still implicated by the House of Delegates. On July 31,2018,he pled guilty to a felony count of fraud related to his personal use of a state vehicle and gas fuel card.
The Government of West Virginia is modeled after the Government of the United States,with three branches:the executive,consisting of the Governor of West Virginia and the other elected constitutional officers;the legislative,consisting of the West Virginia Legislature which includes the Senate and the House of Delegates;and the judicial,consisting of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and lower courts.
Larry Victor Starcher was an American jurist who was a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. In November 1996,he was elected as a Democrat in a partisan election to the Supreme Court of Appeals. He served as chief justice in 1999 and 2003.
Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co.,556 U.S. 868 (2009),is a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires judges to recuse themselves not only when actual bias has been demonstrated or when the judge has an economic interest in the outcome of the case but also when "extreme facts" create a "probability of bias."
John F. McCuskey is West Virginia lawyer and politician who served for brief periods in the West Virginia State Legislature and on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Elizabeth D. "Beth" Walker is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals since 2017. She was elected in the Court's first non-partisan election on May 10,2016. She began a 12-year term on January 1,2017. Walker is the 77th justice to serve on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the same office in 2008. She has served as chief justice in 2019 and 2023.
Jackson Kelly PLLC,known as Jackson Kelly,is a full service law firm and one of the 250 largest law firms headquartered in the United States. The firm,which has a strong presence in Appalachia and the Midwestern United States,was formed in 1822 when Benjamin H. Smith began practicing law in what was then Charleston,Virginia. U.S. News &World Report ranks the firm as the nation's best in mining and mineral law,but as a full-service law firm,Jackson Kelly provides legal counseling and litigation to a wide range of clients across many practice areas. The firm employs more than 160 lawyers in offices throughout West Virginia,Kentucky,Indiana,Pennsylvania,Ohio,Washington,D.C.,and Colorado.
John A. Hutchison is an American lawyer serving as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He joined the court in 2018 and served as chief justice in 2022.
The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the intermediate appellate court in West Virginia,created pursuant to the West Virginia Appellate Reorganization Act of 2021.