News and Events | Press release

Pierce Law Visiting Professor Authors ABA Amicus Brief to U.S. Supreme Court

Pierce Law Visiting Professor Keith Fisher has recently received national attention through the American Bar Association amicus brief he authored for the Supreme Court of the United States.  The Court is expected to announce whether it will hear the case this week.

The ABA brief asserts that West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin should have recused himself in the case of Hugh M. Caperton, v. A. T. Massey Coal Company et al. Justice Benjamin ultimately cast the deciding vote in favor of Massey Energy Company and Don Blankenship, Massey's president, chairman and chief executive officer.  Blankenship had made a $3 million dollar contribution to Benjamin's election campaign, a contribution that constituted 60% of Benjamin's funds in the election.

The ABA brief makes the point that "Substantial judicial campaign contributions may create an appearance of bias and undermine the legitimacy of the judicial system" and therefore "This case presents the [Supreme] Court with an opportunity to clarify what due process requires of disqualification determinations in judicial campaign contribution cases."

The case is one of three in front of the Supreme Court that questions the impartiality of the justice system as presently configured in West Virginia.

The decision on the case is consequential in the 39 states that elect at least some of their judges, rather than appoint judges with lifelong tenure.  New Hampshire is one of 11 states that make lifelong judicial appointments.

Fisher joined Pierce Law as Visiting Professor in the fall of 2008. He is a graduate of Georgetown Law Center and Princeton University and brings expertise in the areas of banking law and financial services regulation, legal ethics, and mergers and acquisitions.