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Saturday, May 11, 2013

West Virginia - Most Corrupt State Supreme Court?



There's a state that may be even more corrupt that Texas - West Virginia. I recommend this new book:

The Price of Justice: Death, Corruption, and an Epic Fight Against America's Most Powerful Coal Baron
by Laurence Leamer

It's the true story of how a thug robber baron named Don Blankenship bought the Supreme Court of West Virginia and used it, mafia style, to crush anyone who dared protest when he raped them. He ordered his managers to fake safety data and drills, and cut corners. A mine explosion killed 29 men as a result. He broke contracts and destroyed companies. He dumped toxic wastes in people's drinking water. And the W.Va. Supreme Court was a willing accomplice.
Two Pittsburgh lawyers, Dave Fawcett and Bruce Stanley, had the courage to take him on. "The West Virginia justices did not hear Caperton until October 2007. As Fawcett got up to make his case, Blankenship’s closest friend on the court, judge Elliott Maynard, got up and left, not returning until the Pittsburgh attorney was finished. The following day, according to judge Larry Starcher who was present, his colleagues spent less than a minute deciding to overturn the lower court’s verdict. They did so without even determining what reason they would choose to do so. That could come later.
Photos surfaced showing Blankenship and his longtime friend and Supreme Court of West Virginia justice Elliott Maynard on vacation together in the South of France in July 2006.
Fawcett and Stanley put it all on the line. Something unheard of may happen - Blankenship may get indicted by the feds.

1 comment:

  1. That sounds like an interesting book, but "more corrupt than Texas? That is a tall order.

    ReplyDelete