WVU, and for that matter the Board of Governors, needs a serious housecleaning.
Mike Garrison – who is a selfish douchebag – is trashing WVU and dragging it through the gutter to save his pitiful career.
Maybe we can find pictures of Mike and Steve Goodwin vacationing in Monaco too . . .
Kudos to Hippie Killer for keeping the heat on.
How did we get this far? I am absolutely stunned by last night’s results:
| Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals – Democrat | % Complete | ||||
| Precincts Reporting: | 1890 | of | 1892 | 100% | |
| VOTES | % | ||||
| D | MARGARET L. WORKMAN | 178,376 | 36% | ||
| D | MENIS KETCHUM | 134,504 | 27% | ||
| D | (i) ELLIOTT E. “SPIKE” MAYNARD | 96,603 | 19% | ||
| D | BOB BASTRESS | 87,503 | 18% | ||
I am amazed, and stunned, and shocked, that the citizens of West Virginia got it so right.
I haven’t had that much fun watching an election since I watched Ronald Reagan crush Jimmy Carter in 1980. For most of the night, Spike was getting beat by Bob Bastress.
I mean, look at those numbers: the Chamber of Commerce spent over $400,000, on top of $500,000 by Spike, and he barely took third place by 9,100 votes over a candidate who spent less than 1/10th that amount. I guess about the only thing crazier that could happen in this election is if Spike were to switch parties, become a Republican, and try running again in the fall. That’d be nice for Spike, but would really suck for Beth Walker. . . .
So where do we go from here?
. . . and now we wait to see whether West Virginia is going to get a new, honest Supreme Court.
In a post below, I pointed out that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals is getting sued by the Associated Press over the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act.
Basically, the Court is arguing that Chief Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, so the Court doesn’t have to produce any intelligible records about Spike to the Associated Press. At the same time, the Court is freely releasing records about Justice Larry Starcher to conservative news outlets that have apparently made identical FOIA requests.
Now, if that alone doesn’t tick you off, this should.
The Court is using our taxpaying dollars to hire five — that’s right, five — lawyers from three law firms to conceal evidence of Spike’s interaction with Don Blankenship. As a press release from the Court says:
I also want to announce today that Robert P. Fitzsimmons and Robert J. Fitzsimmons of Fitzsimmons Law Offices, Daniel J. Guida of Guida Law Offices, and Bill Wilmouth and Ancil Ramey of the law firm of Steptoe and Johnson have been selected to protect these important interests of the judiciary. Please direct any questions to them.
Let me see if I understand this.
Chief Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard said he is all for an “independent investigation” into his trip to Monaco with Don Blankenship. As Maynard told the Charleston Gazette:
Maynard said he would welcome an independent investigation of the incident, so he could display his receipts from the vacation he spent with a Supreme Court employee, to show that he received nothing from the Massey chief.
Now we learn the Associated Press is suing the West Virginia Supreme Court. Why? Of course: for refusing to reveal information about Spike’s vacation for an independent analysis.
The AP asked for Spike’s phone records, e-mails and what-not that probably would have showed that the Monaco meeting was anything but a coincidence (as Spike claims.)
Mind you, the AP didn’t ask for his private, personal records. They asked for public stuff. Documents on his government computer, his state-taxpayer-paid-for cellphone, his state-taxpayer-paid-for landline, his state-taxpayer-paid-for e-mail and internet account.
Maynard refused to turn over most of the information, and the receipts that were provided were gibberish. C’mon, you want me to believe that there isn’t a detailed record of his cellphone usage that the public can see? I mean, my cellphone bill runs for 50 or 60 pages.
At the same time that the Court says it can’t, or won’t, produce Maynard’s records – ostensibly as a matter of constitutional ”principle” — the Court promptly revealed detailed records of all of Justice Larry Starcher’s phone calls in response to a FOIA request. The Associated Press can’t see Spike’s records, but the West Virginia Record and Charleston Daily Mail get all of Starcher’s? Gee, no double standard there.
Or how about the computer records? Several weeks ago, there was a story in the papers about a lawyer caught breaking into a competitor law firm’s computer system. He was caught because the law firm’s computer system recorded exactly when, where and how he got in.
Yet we’re supposed to believe that Spike’s computer didn’t record any usage data? Or that all of that data is top secret and exempt from public review?
So we’re supposed to believe that Spike wants an independent review of his actions, at the same time he’s refusing to release any information about his actions?
Give me a break. Whether Spike wins or loses on Tuesday, it’ll be fun seeing the AP roast him over the hot coals of the First Amendment.
Oh, two more things. First, did the AP’s Freedom of Information Act request ask to see if and what kinds of porn Spike downloaded to his computer? Second, as a legal matter, is a justice’s use of a government computer to look at porn a confidential record exempt from disclosure?
Read this quote by attorney Roger Curry:
I take lots of cases to the Supreme Court. Every time I go there, Justice Maynard and I get into a heated argument with raised voices, sharp comments and honest indignation, and then he never votes my way. However, the thought has never crossed my mind that Justice Maynard’s rulings are motivated by influences, or anything other than his honest opinion of the law.
Do you think that maybe, just maybe, the thought has crossed this lawyer’s mind that he never gets Spike’s vote for some other reason?
Like, oh, I don’t know, maybe because he argues with Spike, raises his voice to Spike, and expresses honest indignation with some of Spike’s ridiculous statements?
Geeez . . . what a twit.
H/T to Bo Nation Operative Mike for pointing out this gem.
I’ve never met Hugh Caperton.
But one of his lawyers assured me that he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. The lawyer also told me how his case is a heart-breaker, because not only did he get thoroughly screwed by Don Blankenship, and not only did the union workers employed by his now-bankrupt mine get screwed, but after getting screwed by the Supreme Court in November he fell off a ladder and was seriously injured.
I’m sure he thought he had a chance at justice after the pictures of Spike and Don’s Excellent Monaco Vacation appeared on his lawyers’ doorstep. Those pictures got Spike to drop out of the case.
Well, the Supreme Court screwed him a second time in April.
Now, Hugh Caperton is pissed.
So he’s gone and done what any pissed-off West Virginian would do. He started a blog. It’s called — appropriately — Searching for Justice in West Virginia.
He’s also gone and written a magnificent column for today’s Charleston Gazette. Caperton magnificently describes Maynard:
So, here we have a sitting justice on the Supreme Court, who has broken the very rules that were put in place to protect us from unethical behavior, running around telling anyone who will listen that he is a victim of a smear campaign. . . .
This “smear campaign” is nothing more than Maynard complaining about a self-inflicted wound.
I’ve posted the column below, if you’ve got free time to read it.
A Bo Nation Operative sent me a link to the new ad featuring Spike and Don’s heart warming bonding time on the Riveria.
I think the ad’s cute, but using the word “friend” in the ad undercuts the negative effect that the ad is supposed to have.
I would have gone for the jugular, if I were in the ad business.
With pictures of the vacation in the background, I’d superimpose the recently-released lawyer survey of the various qualifications of judges and judicial candidates for office.
Then the voice-over would say:
“Over a thousand West Virginia lawyers who know Spike Maynard’s work ethic were surveyed.”
”Those lawyers say that Spike Maynard is the least qualified candidate for Supreme Court. Least qualified among all five candidates running.”
“They also say that Spike Maynard is the most unethical sitting judge in the entire State of West Virginia”
“This May, tell Spike to Take a Hike.”
H/t to M.A.
For those of you who don’t read the news — or watch stock prices — Massey Energy won again in the Supreme Court. By a 3-2 majority, the Court again vacated a jury’s $50 million verdict won by Harmon Energy against Massey.
This is what I find baffling: It took Justice Robin Davis 88 pages and 9 shiny new syllabus points to explain res judicata and the meaning of a forum selection clause in a contract? Methinks she doth protest too much. And Justice Albright’s dissent stretches for 55 pages (plus a 40 page appendix)?
Who the hell do they expect to read this stuff? Or is this just an example of “baffling them with bullshit.” You know, make the opinion so long and boring that (a) we presume it is an example of good scholarship, and (b) we never read it to discover if it contains fallacious reasoning.
I’ve tried to read the opinion, but I think the dissent says it all: its a result-oriented opinion “with the single-minded purpose of nullifying the work” of a jury that, in the future, will be horrible for West Virginia businesses. I mean, the majority’s opinion doesn’t even contain a readable version of the facts; you’ve got to read the dissent to truly understand what happened.
Now, before you jackasses out there (particularly Steve Cohen at Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse) post any more giddy comments suggesting this decision is “pro-business” or the will of God or some other nonsense, remember one little fact:
The plaintiffs, who were driven into bankruptcy by Massey Energy, were themselves small businesses.
As the dissent notes, the majority opinion places “such unrealistic requirements as to foreseeability on contracting parties, the majority makes West Virginia a truly vulnerable place to do business.” So for those of us representing small business, we’ve got a tough time explaining this case to your clientele. For you jackasses getting funding from Phillip Morris, high-fives and shots all around.
My bet: this case is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court, and will probably be reversed. In footnote 16 of the dissent, Albright points out the obvious: Justice Benjamin’s presence on the case violated the Due Process rights of the litigants. The U.S. Supreme Court once said that “justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.” By receiving $3.5 million in campaign support from Don Blankenship, Massey’s CEO, while this case was pending appeal — at the same time that Benjamin was an unknown candidate who only raised a few hundred thousand in campaign donations — Benjamin carries the appearance of being in Blankenship’s pocket. And by sitting on the appeal, it carries every appearance of Benjamin “staying bought.”
An operative out there in the Bo Nation wrote me a few weeks back and suggested a really weird conspiracy. After today, maybe its a theory worth investigating.
The theory is this: someone inside the West Virginia Supreme Court is using inside information to trade stock. Or leaking information to affect stock prices. Specifically, stock in Massey Energy Company (MEE).
The Massey Case — Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., No. 33350 — was first argued before the Supreme Court of Appeals on October 10, 2007; the Court probably decided the case on October 11th. And the original opinion was issued on November 21st.
This opinion wiped a $76 million debt off of Massey Energy’s books.
In the days around October 10th, the price of Massey stock jumped nearly 20% — from $22.64 on October 8th to $27.21 on October 11th. The volume of shares traded also jumped from between 1 and 2 million a day, to 5 million a day.
Just before the opinion was issued — during the week of November 12th to November 16th, SEC records show lots of insider trades. Members of the Massey Board of Directors exercised their options and bought stock.
Now, this could all be a coincidence.
Then, tonight I saw an article about Don Blankenship’s kerfuffle with an ABC News cameraman, which ended with this paragraph:
Massey is the nation’s fourth-largest coal producer by revenue. It operates 19 mining complexes in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. Its stock rose $2.31, or 6.12 percent, to $40.06 Thursday.
It strikes me as really odd that Massey’s stock would jump 6.12% on the same day the Court released its revised, second opinion in Caperton v. A.T. Massey. Not just the same day, but just before the Court’s opinion was released again vacating the $76 million verdict.
Again, maybe its just a wild coincidence. But with this Court, I don’t believe in coincidences.
There was a beautifully titled article a few weeks ago in the Saturday Charleston Gazette:
It’s Not a Good Idea to Lie to the Feds
The article goes on to point out that Martha Stewart, I Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Lil’ Kim, Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, and now maybe Roger Clemons, have faced prison time for obstructing justice by lying to federal investigators.
So I hope that if anyone goes to jail in all this mess, it better be Maynard and/or Blankenship, and not a stupid Supreme Court employee who tried to cover up for them.
Just sayin.
A few days ago I said someone had obliquely mentioned that Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard is currently being investigated by the FBI, the IRS, and the U.S. Justice Department. They’re trying to figure out if any, or how many, crimes were generated by Spike’s trip to the French Riviera with Don Blankenship.
You probably thought I was making that up.
Well, now I’m looking rather prescient, aren’t I?
Reporter Kris Maher, writing in today’s Wall Street Journal, says:
[F]ederal investigators have interviewed court employees to learn more about the Monaco vacation, according to two court employees and a lawyer briefed on the case. Representatives of the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of West Virginia and the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on whether their offices have opened investigations.
The Journal article also notes that Spike has produced only two receipts for the entire trip. He hasn’t shown any receipts for food, for a vehicle, for gasoline, or for repairs to the vehicle’s diesel engine after Spike filled ‘er up with gasoline (what an arrogant dumbass). He also hasn’t proven wrong the rumor that Blankenship gave him cash to pay for the trip. And he hasn’t proven wrong the story going around that Blankenship gave him and his girlfriend thousands of dollars in cash to gamble with in the casinos.
The Journal says:
Justice Maynard, a Democrat up for re-election to a second term this year, has made available an American Express bill for airline tickets and his hotel stay but hasn’t released any other receipts related to the trip.
We also haven’t seen any receipts for the dinners with Blankenship at the Chophouse, the dinner with Blankenship in Logan County, the dinner with Blankenship at the Greenbrier, etc., etc., etc., . . .
Now, are there any smarmy comments from the peanut gallery? Trodd, where are you? I still haven’t gotten that apology that you owe me.
UPDATE:
Today’s Charleston Gazette followed up on the Wall Street Journal. It looks like reporter Paul Nyden cornered Spike in middle of a Democratic candidate get-together yesterday, and ambushed him with the Journal story before Spike could meet his advisors and spin-up some B.S. response:
At a Thursday meeting between Supreme Court candidates and Gazette editors, Maynard said he had just been informed about the Journal report. “That’s all I know about it,” he said.
Spike then made the cardinal sin of any candidate for office: he rambled.
But the chief justice also said he did not believe such an investigation is ongoing. He indicated that he thinks the Journal article is mistaken.
Oops. Nope. Sorry Spike. No mistake.
Then Spike really went overboard, and said:
Maynard said he would welcome an independent investigation of the incident, so he could display his receipts from the vacation he spent with a Supreme Court employee, to show that he received nothing from the Massey chief.
Spike would “welcome an independent investigation?” Whoa, that’s way off his campaign’s message. Only a week ago, candidate Bob Bastress asked for an independent investigation – and Spike’s campaign manager (court administrator Steve Canterbury) totally rejected the request.
Administrator Steve Canterbury said Thursday he can only refer Bob Bastress to the Judicial Investigation Commission, which oversees the ethical conduct in the state’s courts. “It’s not one of the things this office does,” Canterbury said.
And, let’s face it, Spike’s had — what, six, eight weeks now? — to manufacture and/or produce any receipts. He hasn’t done it, hasn’t even tried.
And that speaks volumes to me.
I got an e-mail reminding me that Democrat Spike Maynard has received other, glowing endorsements.
For instance, Doug McKinney — the chairman of the state Republican Party — said:
“History will prove him to be the best Supreme Court justice West Virginia has ever had.”
McKinney also said last September that he would vote for Maynard — a Democrat — if only one Republican runs when two seats are up for grabs on the court. What a remarkable coincidence that only one Republican is running this year.
But I think the most impressive endorsement of Spike’s leadership skills comes from the master of the English language, the decider himself: George W. Bush:
Thanks for inviting me to this beautiful capitol. I appreciate the planning committee for this independence weekend celebration. You know, it takes a lot of effort to put one of these deals together, and a lot of people have been working hard to do so, starting with Spike Maynard, who is the co-chairman and the Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. (Applause.) I told the judge I liked being in the presence with somebody who doesn’t try to re-write the Constitution. (Applause.)
Spike can’t sit still on the bench for five minutes without leaving to make a phone call to Don Blankenship, or leave early for lunch or dinner. But he had time in 2004 to be the chairman of a committee to bring Bush to town to speak? In an election year?
I guess its fair to say that Spike’s got the Republican vote pretty well locked up . . . I’m just not sure how that’ll play in the upcoming Democratic primary.
Wasn’t it yesterday that I said Justice Spike Maynard routinely leaves the bench in the middle of an attorney’s argument to make a phone call, or rudely leaves early for lunch?
Darned if the Morgantown Dominion Post didn’t prove me right today. Right there on the cover of the second section of the newspaper is this picture of the Supreme Court holding session at the law school in Morgantown:
I only count four justices in this picture, not five. According to “acting” Chief Justice Brent Benjamin, Maynard had to leave early “because of another engagement.”
Another engagement? WTF? Like what: a three-martini lunch? Working on travel arrangements to the Riviera? Soliciting campaign contributions, perhaps? Or chasing some sweet young co-ed who doesn’t know any better?
God in heaven, this argument date has been on the Court’s calendar for at least 6 months! Another engagement?
I guess working more than two hours a day, twenty-or-so days a year is not only exhausting for Spike, but makes it impossible for Spike to avoid scheduling conflicts with his “other engagements.”
Like I said when I started this blog, Spike’s a total douchebag.
It’s Wednesday, March 12th. I’ve cleared off my afternoon calendar. Today’s the day that Caperton v. A.T. Massey is to be re-argued before the Supreme Court. Arguments are supposed to start at 2:00 p.m.
You can find the briefs for the case here.
Circuit Judges Fred Fox and Don Cookman have been appointed to replace Justices Starcher and Maynard, respectively. It’ll be interesting to see if they take an active role in deciding the case, or if they sit quietly and defer to the whims of Justice Davis and Justice “Who is Brent Benjamin.”
Get some popcorn and a cold fizzy beverage and kick back in front of your computer to watch live video of the arguments.
But, if you don’t see the video live, you’re out of luck. The court doesn’t record argument sessions; that’s the kind of stuff that might get used in an election to make a justice look bad.
Don’t believe me? Watch a few sessions, and count how often Spike Maynard leaves the bench to make phone calls, and how often he leaves early for lunch — while lawyers are still arguing their cases. Believe me, its not only rude, but it could make for a devastating campaign ad.
Which is precisely why the court doesn’t record oral argument sessions.
I see that the political endorsement season is upon us.
Supreme Court candidates Menis Ketchum and Bob Bastress got the endorsement of the West Virginia Education Association. Ketchum and Margaret Workman got the endorsement of the AFL-CIO.
And Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard got the endorsement of . . . ready for this?
The West Virginia Sheriff’s Association PAC.
I’ll pause writing, and wait until you stop laughing.
As the West Virginia Record reports:
Justice Maynard has the knowledge, experience and integrity to serve a second term as our Supreme Court Justice,” said West Virginia Sheriffs’ Association PAC president, Daniel Moore. “We were proud to endorse him almost 12 years ago and we are honored to endorse him again for another 12 years.”
Let’s put this endorsement in perspective. The WVEA represents thousands of teachers. The AFL-CIO represents thousands of blue-collar workers.
But I have no idea who the West Virginia Sheriff’s Association PAC represents. This isn’t the Sheriff’s Association, which represents the interests of the 55 county sheriffs (but not their deputies; that’s for the Deputy Sheriff’s Association).
No, it’s just a Political Action Committee, a group designed to spread cash around for political causes. In other words, Spike got the endorsement of a handful of people in charge of somebody’s else’s politically-generated pile of money. Not too impressive.
I talked to a reporter friend about the endorsement, and he posed a beautiful question to me:
Do you think the Sheriffs would’ve endorsed Spike Maynard if they knew he is currently being investigated by the FBI? And the IRS? And the U.S. Justice Department? All at the same time?
Let that question sink in. This reporter knows what he’s talking about. Now, anyone out there in the peanut gallery got any thoughts?
By thoughts, I mean rational thoughts. Not psychotic, discordant, rambling, Joseph Goebbels kind of thoughts that some readers of this blog like to spew. I’m looking for your honest, coherent thoughts. Feel free to e-mail me at bo.rumpole@gmail.com.
Maybe a reporter should ask the Sheriff’s Association PAC president that very question.
And the next time a PAC decides to spread its money around, maybe its members should ask Spike the same question . . . ’cause I think he’s gonna have some serious ’splainin to do . . .
Before I told him to buzz off, I got a question e-mailed from a reporter. I have no idea what it means. I figured I’d throw it out to the peanut gallery and see if anyone else has an answer.
The question was basically this: Who is Timothy Ray Cline, and what is his relationship to Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard?
It looks like Mr. Cline once owned three “Southern Exposure” strip clubs in southern West Virginia.
Back in 1999, in an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court threw out Mr. Cline’s sentence for driving on a suspended license. Justice Maynard voted with the majority (but so did 3 other justices).
Then, in 2006, the U.S. Justice Department charged Mr. Cline with failing to pay $84,000 in taxes. He also fraudulently received $35,000 in federal disability payments.
The charging document alleges that Cline skimmed money from the door receipts of various adult clubs that he owned and operated and did not report these skimmed receipts on his income tax return. The Information also charges that Cline was fraudulently receiving Social Security disability payments during the time he owned and operated the adult nightclubs.
Mr. Cline pleaded guilty to the charges on March 6, 2007.
Here we are, almost a year later, and I can’t find anything showing if Mr. Cline has ever been sentenced. But, the DOJ press release said:
CLINE faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on June 6, 2007.
So, has anyone got any clue what the connection is between Mr. Cline and Spike Maynard?
To all you reporters out there reading this, let’s get something clear: I’m not a source for your story.
So stop sending me e-mails asking me be your primary source on the slow motion train-wreck called “The West Virginia Supreme Court.”
If you think there’s a story to be told about the Supreme Court, by all means, write your story. Stop expecting me to do your legwork and tell you my sources. Many of these people are good people and good friends, and I’m not about to tell you who they are.
I’ll tell you what I’ve already told other reporters: talk to people at the Court. Bypass anybody with their name on a piece of letterhead — they’ve got an agenda. They’ll just feed you a line of crap.
Talk to the people who actually do the work there. The people who answer the phones, run the copy machines, push the paper from office to office. The bureaucrats, the servant-types who really do the work but who feel like they are ignored by the powers-that-be. Listen to them. Take them out, buy them a beer.
Believe me, I’m just the messenger. The people who work for the Court are the ones telling stories, stories that are doozies.
These people talk if you just ask them to. They see what goes on in government; they just never get a chance to tell their story. Of course, you should also expect them to be looking over their shoulders the whole time they are talking. Court employees are terrified of what will happen if Spike Maynard gets re-elected.
But that’s a whole other story.
In the meantime, leave me alone.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
– Edmund Burke
I was talking with a colleague in Pittsburgh yesterday, and he says “Why haven’t we heard from Bo lately?”
My first thought was that I should smack the SOB. He’s been as busy and on the road doing discovery as I have; its not like a blog just writes itself. These things take a lot of time, a lot of research, a lot of prying.
But then I got to thinking. I realized that he actually reads this stuff. I had no idea that anyone was reading it.
I mean, look at the comments. Nobody is commenting, not even anonymously.
And then this afternoon I heard someone down the hall ask my paralegal if she’d seen it. She claimed ignorance, as she has promised to do, but that’s when it hit me that people really are reading what I’m writing. Maybe, I thought, this impromptu New Year’s resolution of mine just might make a difference.
If you’re here, you probably want to know why I’m doing this.
So sit down by the fire in your comfy chair, get yourself a cup of hot chocolate, and let me tell you why I started writing a blog.
Around New Year’s Day, a few of us in the office were talking about resolutions. We all had the same BS ideas. When I started thinking about them later, i realized how superficial and self-centered they were. People wanted to lose weight, save money, travel more. None of the resolutions involved other people, or doing anything toward making the world a happy, sugar-coated place.
About the same time I was talking to a friend (a no-good law-school dropout), and he starts his standard round of drunken bitching about how underwhelming Justice Brent Benjamin is. He’s complaining about seeing Benjamin buying diet cherry Big K cola at the Ashton Place Kroger, and — to quote him directly — that “steady line of vapid South Hills fuckers” groveling at Benjamin’s feet like he’s some kind of celebrity.
Basically, my friend can’t stand the way Benjamin got elected. Who can?
What got me was when he started ranting about how Benjamin and his BFF Don Blankenship run the Supreme Court. That’s when I realized he’s clueless. Granted, he didn’t graduate from law school, but I was still thinking “c’mon, everyone knows how the Court works. Don’t they?”
Then I realized the answer is no. Most people outside the legal community have no idea how the Court really works. They have no idea that Benjamin is relatively powerless on the Court. They had no idea that Spike Maynard is Blankenship’s BFF and marionette. Well, until the pictures came out, anyway.
My friend, see, has a blog that he posts to fairly regularly. I asked him why he won’t say anything about the Court. He couldn’t come up with a very good reason — he couldn’t even come up with a decent rant about Benjamin.
I started thinking (selfishly) how I could do a better job than my friend blogging about my favorite music, sports, the joys and pitfalls of owning dogs and having a fulltime job (solution: lots of Clorox wipes), my political views, etc., etc. But that would be all about me.
What pissed me off was my job and my ability to practice in a courtroom. I can’t practice law, at least fairly and on an even plane, with this Supreme Court. My clients — the people of West Virginia — are getting screwed and the upcoming elections might fix that. But the average schmuck on the street doesn’t understand that.
I mean, at the same time judges are chopping medical malpractice verdicts for people mangled and killed by doctors because they are “excessive,”, a doctor got a $25 million verdict against Charleston Area Medical Center because he hurt his reputation. How the hell do I easily distinguish these cases for my clients?
And so this blog was born.
If you’re reading it, its probably because you want to know what’s really going on at the Court. As my paralegal keeps saying, “What he hell is going on up there?” If you’re like my buddy that I talked to in Pittsburgh, you probably feel the same way.
I have determined to write it because I know this stuff needs to be written. It needs to be made public. All that is necessary for evil to triumph on the Court is for good people to do nothing.
I’ll keep passing on the information as I get it, when I have the time to write. If you get a juicy tip, leave me a comment. Or e-mail it to me at bo.rumpole@gmail.com. Confidentiality is assured.
Here’s a weird twist on the corruption probe involving Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard and Don Blankenship. Something that goes waaayy beyond their trip to Monaco and the casinos of Monte Carlo.
Because of the ripples caused by the probe, people in the Court’s Administrative Office have been coerced into signing what is tantamount to a loyalty oath.
A few days back I got a post from someone named “longsword.” He/she said Steve Canterbury is the connection between Spike Maynard and Don Blankenship, and the other “Big Three” members of the Supreme Court, Robin Davis and “who is Brent Benjamin.” Longsword said looking into that connection might be enough to show that Davis and Benjamin also shouldn’t be hearing cases involving Blankenship’s company, Massey Energy.
Steve Canterbury is currently the Administrative Director for the entire West Virginia court system. He is a constitutional officer that works under and for the members of the Court.
Canterbury was Spike Maynard’s campaign director in 1996, and is apparently his de facto campaign manager now (and rumored to be running Spike’s campaign from his desk in his State Capitol office). Otherwise, I’m not yet sure how Canterbury is directly related to the Monaco-gate mess.
But sometime last week, a one-page statement of support for Canterbury was circulated around the court’s administrative offices. Court employees were told they “could sign it if they wanted to.” The rumor is that every employee signed, not because they wanted to, but because they were afraid of the repercussions if they didn’t express fealty to the Court’s Administrator. The rumor is also that the statement of confidence, or whatever it was called, was originated by either Canterbury himself, or by one of his lieutenants in the office.
An article in the Charleston Gazette this weekend indicated that Spike’s female companion on the trip to the Riviera was a court employee. That means she’s one of Canterbury’s subordinates who was compelled to sign the statement.
I’m guessing that maybe Canterbury is afraid of losing his job — why else conjure up a unanimous pledge of support from the staff?
Maybe Canterbury knew that one of his court employees went to Europe with Spike and Don — and he helped to conceal the trip.
Anyone else got any ideas? Or information?
Intimidation is defined as “a communication that makes you afraid to try something” and “being made to feel afraid or timid.”
Let me give a concrete example.
Two weeks ago, photos appeared showing Spike Maynard vacationing in Monaco with Don Blankenship:
But there are also 10 photos filed with the Supreme Court of Appeals of women who were traveling with Spike and Don. For several weeks we’ve been left guessing who those companions might be. That’s because the photos were sealed, by the plaintiff’s lawyer who filed them, to protect the women from public embarassment.
Well, it seems Spike was nice enough to drop hints about the identity of his companion: she is a subordinate employee of the Supreme Court. Real honorable fella, don’t you agree?
But even better, it looks like he dropped a veiled threat. He said:
The chief justice acknowledged the woman he took with him on his European venture is an employee of the state Supreme Court.
“We were both single and seeing each other,” the 65-year-old Mingo County native said . . .
“We don’t have any policy that prohibits that,” he said. “I really need to speak to that at length and I will at some point.”
Maybe I’m paranoid, but I read this to say that if the female companion says anything about the trip to Monaco, Spike will publicly drag her ass, her dignity, and her reputation through the mud. At some point. And at length.
And, of course, employees of the Court are “at will” employees. That means he could have her fired for any reason — including for being honest. Honest with the judicial ethics commission. Honest with a cop. Honest with a federal prosecutor.
So the word of the day is: Intimidation.
And, if there’s truly a God, tomorrow’s word will be one of the following: indictment; obstruction of justice; or resignation.
It looks like Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard filed for re-election to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. That took some balls.
When he filed the paperwork to run, he told a reporter:
There are two seats, so I can’t have them both
That’s a little misleading.
First, people aren’t concerned about whether Spike has both of the seats up for election; they’re concerned about Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship buying both seats and assuring himself a solid majority. Second, Spike is acknowledged by most members of the bar as the brains of the Big Three on the Supreme; by owning Spike, that gives Blankenship some pull with Justice Robin Davis, and a lot of pull with Court sycophant Brent Benjamin.
Spike’s facing public humiliation in any campaign, because all eyes are going to be focused on the photos taken of him vacationing with Blankenship on the French Riviera. As Tom Searls said in his article, “Maynard was considered practically a shoo-in for a second term before the pictures became public.” Now, he’s friggin public enemy number one for the other Democratic candidates.
Spike’s probably going to be facing a criminal investigation too. This trip to Monaco has been a rumor for a long time now — and until the photos surfaced, I just assumed it would be one more thing Spike got away with.
But the story is now going around that Maynard didn’t pay for most of the trip, and gambled in the casinos of Monte Carlo with cash from Blankenship.
Wait . . . didn’t Spike promise us that he’d produce receipts showing he paid for the whole trip?
Why yes, he did! In a Court press release that rivaled Nixon’s “Checker’s Speech,” or better yet, Nixon’s “People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got” Speech, Maynard said:
I want to be crystal clear that in the noted trip I paid my own way, paid for my travel expenses, paid my own hotel expenses out of my own pocket. I have receipts and records to prove it.
Here we are two weeks later and what has Maynard produced?
Absolutely nothing. In writing, at least.
But in a hard-hitting journalistic endeavor that rivals Fox News, The State Journal got Spike to give an exclusive interview where he said he paid for the entire trip to Europe in one shot. He didn’t actually show anyone the receipt. But he claims the entire trip — the plane tickets, hotel, rental car, etc. — was paid for on his American Express card, through Expedia:
I need to be crystal clear about this: On this trip, I paid my own way. It was booked as an Expedia package, and it was charged to my American Express, and I paid the bill,” he said. “I paid for my own entertainment and my rental car.”
I’m not sure about you, but my bullshit meter just pegged off the scale.
Exactly how do you get a receipt for chips at a European casino? Particularly if those chips are purchased by someone else? Hmmm?
Now, hark back to what started this catastrophe for Spike’s re-election campaign. And keep thinking, “where are the receipts?”
In the original motion to disqualify Spike filed in the Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal case, the plaintiffs noted that Spike was seen having dinner with Blankenship three weeks before the Court’s original opinion was issued on November 21, 2007. Who paid for that dinner? Does Spike have a receipt showing he paid? I’ll bet not.
Remember back in October 2004 when Spike was seen having dinner with Blankenship at the pricey Chophouse Restaurant in downtown Charleston? Or any of the other times he’s been seen hanging out with Blankenship, like at Justice Benjamin’s election-night celebration?
Spike initially tried to act like he barely knew Blankenship. But the new tactic is to diffuse the subject by admitting he is friends, has always been friends, with Blankenship. Spike didn’t have to tell you, because “everyone” was supposed to know it. And if you didn’t know that fact, that’s your fault.
But in all this, what’s missing? Yeah, the receipts.
Everybody who knows Spike know that he’s smart. He’s selfish as hell, but he’s smart.
And he can figure out that having someone with business before the Court should either be avoided, or he should be avoiding that someone’s business before the Court. Period.
And then there’s that business of the law, which says:
No official . . . may knowingly accept any gift, directly or indirectly, from a lobbyist or from any person whom the official or employee knows or has reason to know:
(C) Has financial interests which may be substantially and materially affected, in a manner distinguishable from the public generally, by the performance or nonperformance of his or her official duties.
So, c’mon Spike, where are all those receipts?
The West Virginia Record is a rag. A filthy, fetid load of incompetent, right-wing propaganda that tries to look like news to the uninformed. What else would you expect from a paper funded by the Chamber of Commerce?
In their reporting on the Caperton v. Massey Energy case before the Supreme Court, in an article posted at 2:23 p.m. on January 24th, they said:
Blankenship, Maynard and Justice Robin Davis made up the majority in the initial ruling, while Starcher and Justice Joseph Albright dissented.
Justice Blankenship? Well, damn! For once, they got their facts right.
UPDATE: It looks like somebody at the Record read my post and corrected the article. Still, it was funny to see in print the Freudian slip a lot of other West Virginia lawyers make.
Massey Energy has bought two of the five seats on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, and somehow holds sway over a third seat. That investment looks to be unraveling faster than the U.S. economy.
Last November, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reversed a $50 million verdict against A.T. Massey Coal Company by Hugh Caperton and his company, Harmon Mining. With interest, the judgment has now grown to over $75 million.
Justices Benjamin, Davis and Elliott “Spike” Maynard voted to set aside the verdict on ridiculous legal grounds, even though the evidence of wrongdoing by Massey clearly supported a verdict higher than the one returned by the jury. The Court said:
The facts of this case demonstrate that Massey’s conduct warranted the type of judgment rendered in this case. However, no matter how sympathetic the facts are, or how egregious the conduct, we simply cannot compromise the law in order to reach a result that clearly appears to be justified.
Justices Albright and Starcher dissented.
In the last two weeks, it was discovered that Spike Maynard had been vacationing on the French Riviera with the CEO of Massey Energy, Don Blankenship. Vacationing together while the Caperton verdict was being appealed. Blankenship and Maynard apparently tried to conceal this trip, telling people to lie and say the trip never happened. They also ordered any evidence of the trip — like photos — to be destroyed.
So it was quite a surprise when the photos of Spike and Don magically appeared in the press last week. Looks like someone didn’t get the memo to destroy all the evidence.
Maynard originally tried to act like the photos were no big deal, and promised he would produce documentation showing (a) he paid for his share of the trip, and (b) it was purely a coincidence that Maynard and Blankenship ended up together in the casinos of Monte Carlo for three straight days in July 2006.
By last Friday, Maynard hadn’t produced any evidence that he paid for his share of the trip (probably because it either never existed, or he destroyed it along with his copy of the photos). So he disqualified himself from the case.
The plaintiffs asked Justice Benjamin to disqualify himself too, because he received $3.5 million in campaign money from Don Blankenship. Benjamin said that amount of money isn’t enough for a reasonable person to find an appearance of impropriety, so he refused to step down from the case.
Meanwhile, documents appeared showing Justice Starcher had honorably stepped down from asbestos cases in 1996 because he received $36,500 in campaign money from asbestos plaintiffs’ lawyers. Coincidentally, the 1996 motion asking Starcher to disqualify himself was filed by Charles McElwee — a lawyer who is now a law clerk to Justice Benjamin!
The Supreme Court rotates chief justices each year, in order of seniority. The chief justice is mostly an administrative figurehead. In 2008, Justice Larry Starcher was in line to be the Chief Justice. In 2009, Joe Albright is supposed to be the chief.
The Big Three on the Court — Maynard, Davis, and Benjamin — voted last year to ignore seniority rotation rules and make Spike Maynard the chief justice for 2008, and Brent Benjamin chief in 2009. Why this happened should now be apparent.
When a justice is disqualifed, the chief justice is the person who appoints another judge to replace the disqualified justice. That means the chief justice can pick replacement judges who are likely to support the chief’s view of a case.
So Brent Benjamin picked a circuit judge he thought would blindly vote his way, and vote to uphold the November opinion setting aside the verdict against Massey.
Unfortunately, Circuit Judge Don Cookman has a little too much integrity and somehow compelled Justices Davis and Benjamin to agree to rehear the case.
Thursday, the West Virginia Supreme Court voted unanimously to rehear arguments as to whether or not the jury’s verdict should be upheld or set aside.
Arguments in the case are set for March 12th.
The Code of Judicial Conduct specifically prohibits judges from supporting candidates for political office. Judges can advocate for improvements in the judicial system, but that’s it.
Canon 5 (A)(1)(b) says
All judges . . . shall not: . . . publicly endorse or publicly oppose another candidate for public office.
Canon 5(D) is just as clear:
Incumbent judges. A judge shall not engage in any political activity except. . . on behalf of measures to improve the law, the legal system or the administration of justice.
So could someone please tell me: what the hell was Justice Robin Davis doing at Spike Maynard’s dog and pony show where he announced he intended to seek re-election?
Not just there, but standing on his left looking adoringly his way? You know, there so she could publicly endorse another candidate for political office?
Why has no one in the press jumped on this?
And if I can pick up on this blatant violation of the ethical rules, why has no one filed an ethics complaint?
Okay, that last question was partly rhetorical. No lawyer who practices in front of the Supreme Court would dare file a complaint. I like having a job. But why hasn’t some non-lawyer concerned citizen done so?
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