After a long delay, the U.S. Supreme Court announced on Friday [1] it would hear an appeal from West Virginia concerning campaign finance and whether a state Supreme Court justice has the responsibility to recuse himself when a campaign contributor is affected.

So here's what happened. In 2002, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled in favor of Harman Mining Corp that Massey Energy, "commandeered a coal supply agreement and forced the smaller company into bankruptcy." At the time, the verdict would have cost Massey $50 million. In 2004, Massey head Don Blankenship spent $4 million to get a favored candidate elected to the Supreme Court. Once elected, Justice Brent Benjamin ruled in Massey's favor twice.

During the appeals process, Benjamin refused to recuse himself from the case even though Blankenship and his money was a major reason he was elected. In July of this  year, the original plaintiffs in the case asked the Supreme Court to hear the case. The court's decision could have a significant impact in West Virginia and the other 39 states that elect Supreme Court justices.

Hugh Caperton, a plaintiff in the case, had this to say:

"In this country, money has begun to pervade and permeate every election that's held, and I agree that it's the right of each citizen to support their candidate, but you can't have Supreme Court seats being propped up by millions of dollars from one individual or group. It makes the appearance of impropriety so great that normal citizens like myself lose faith in the judicial system."

He's right. Justice is supposed to be blind but it's disconcerting when interests invest millions of dollars to get specific judges elected--especially when they have cases before the court. We'll be following this one closely.