In the judicial system there is a growing trend of big business and lobbying groups, using their vast amount of money to sway particular elections. It is possible for a company to spend a couple of million dollars to ensure their judge is elected, and when the company’s case come to the Supreme Court for appeal the billion dollar verdict is overturned. Spending a few million now to save a billion later is a great return on investment.
In John Grisham’s The Appeal, a chemical company has an unfavorable judgment against them. To not pay the judgment, the owner of the chemical company decides to do whatever is necessary to have the case overturned in appeals. In Mississippi, where the novel takes place, the judges on the state supreme …show more content…
Chamber of Commerce is a large lobbying group representing big businesses. In the 2000 election of Mississippi Supreme Court they paid for countless television ads for a candidate that was more big business friendly than the incumbent, Oliver Diaz. Justice Diaz won that election, but it came with a price. To finance his campaign and compete with U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Diaz had a friend, Paul Minor, co-sign a loan. Minor was a trial lawyer and because of this, Diaz was indicted on taking a bribe from Minor, even though Justice Diaz removed himself from any case that had dealings with Paul Minor or his law firm. Diaz was acquitted on all charges. Three days later he was indicted on tax evasion which he was acquitted on. During this time, he was not sitting on the Supreme Court while he proved his innocence. He was away from the bench for 3 years. Many believe that these indictments were politically motivated to keep him away from the Supreme Court. In 2008 when Diaz was up for re-election, U.S. Chamber of Commerce funded another campaign for his opponent and Diaz lost that …show more content…
Karmeier was elected to the Supreme Court in 2004. One of his major campaign contributors was a group of insurance service companies. Also during this time the case of Avery vs. State Farm was making its way through the appeals process. The judgment against State Farm was for one billion dollars. Once the case made it to the Supreme Court of Illinois, Justice Karmeier did not recuse himself from the case and voted in the 4-2 majority overturning the $1 billion dollar verdict.
Justice Brent Benjamin was elected to the West Virginia Supreme court in 2004. During his campaign Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship spent three million dollars in state wide ad campaign to beat the incumbent. When the case of Caperton v. Massey Energy came before the Supreme Court, Justice Benjamin voted twice on behalf of Massey Energy. Caperton appealed to the United States Supreme Court where he won. Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority saying that, the conflict of interest was so extreme, it threatened the Caperton’s Constitutional right to due process under the 14th
In John Grisham’s The Appeal, a chemical company has an unfavorable judgment against them. To not pay the judgment, the owner of the chemical company decides to do whatever is necessary to have the case overturned in appeals. In Mississippi, where the novel takes place, the judges on the state supreme …show more content…
Chamber of Commerce is a large lobbying group representing big businesses. In the 2000 election of Mississippi Supreme Court they paid for countless television ads for a candidate that was more big business friendly than the incumbent, Oliver Diaz. Justice Diaz won that election, but it came with a price. To finance his campaign and compete with U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Diaz had a friend, Paul Minor, co-sign a loan. Minor was a trial lawyer and because of this, Diaz was indicted on taking a bribe from Minor, even though Justice Diaz removed himself from any case that had dealings with Paul Minor or his law firm. Diaz was acquitted on all charges. Three days later he was indicted on tax evasion which he was acquitted on. During this time, he was not sitting on the Supreme Court while he proved his innocence. He was away from the bench for 3 years. Many believe that these indictments were politically motivated to keep him away from the Supreme Court. In 2008 when Diaz was up for re-election, U.S. Chamber of Commerce funded another campaign for his opponent and Diaz lost that …show more content…
Karmeier was elected to the Supreme Court in 2004. One of his major campaign contributors was a group of insurance service companies. Also during this time the case of Avery vs. State Farm was making its way through the appeals process. The judgment against State Farm was for one billion dollars. Once the case made it to the Supreme Court of Illinois, Justice Karmeier did not recuse himself from the case and voted in the 4-2 majority overturning the $1 billion dollar verdict.
Justice Brent Benjamin was elected to the West Virginia Supreme court in 2004. During his campaign Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship spent three million dollars in state wide ad campaign to beat the incumbent. When the case of Caperton v. Massey Energy came before the Supreme Court, Justice Benjamin voted twice on behalf of Massey Energy. Caperton appealed to the United States Supreme Court where he won. Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority saying that, the conflict of interest was so extreme, it threatened the Caperton’s Constitutional right to due process under the 14th