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McGraw Best for Court
Editor, News-Register:
I write in response to Mr. Capehart's letter, printed on Oct. 22. He should have disclosed that he is Benjamin's campaign manager. He obviously is
Byrd votes for McGraw
October 27, 2004
BECKLEY State Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw said Wednesday he is grateful for the public support he has received from U.S. Sen. Robert
Warren McGraw pulls out 'big guns' in whirlwind tour
By Mannix Porterfield/REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER
Warren McGraw pulled out the big guns -- both the political and hunting variety -- in a whirlwind campaign tour that went south to north Tuesday i
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McGraw Best for Court Editor, News-Register: I write in response to Mr. Capehart's letter, printed on Oct. 22. He should have disclosed that he is Benjamin's campaign manager. He obviously is not objective, but their entire campaign has been one of half or no truths anyway. His letter is really just an advertisement. Not surprisingly he can list no accomplishments of merit for Benjamin, as he has none. He has never had a jury trial and never had a reported decision from the West Virginia Supreme Court. There are hundreds of people in this state more qualified than Benjamin, an Ohio native. McGraw's credentials dwarf those of the Republican novice. In any event, Capehart and his unknown candidate have now stooped to claiming that the well-respected former state Democratic chairman, Pat Maroney, donated to a political campaign in direct exchange for a favorable court ruling. If this were true, which it is not, it would be a crime. Capehart had better watch his desperate steps as I am sure he is no match for Mr. Maroney. Judicial candidates do not know the names of those who contribute directly to their campaign, pursuant to judicial rules. Again, something Mr. Capehart failed to mention. In reality, Mr. Maroney did the right thing by not making any political donation until his client's case was already submitted for decision, just to avoid any improper appearance. Interestingly, Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Coal, has spent nearly $2 million of his own money to get Benjamin elected. This is not shielded from Benjamin's knowledge since it is being done through a "527" group made up of millionaire business executives. It has now come to light that Massey Coal has a $50 million judgment against them for intentionally squashing and financially ruining a small business man from West Virginia until Massey and Blankenship put the West Virginian completely out of business. That court judgment will soon be up for appeal at the West Virginia Supreme Court. Blankenship is trying to buy his judge in advance. Spending $2 million to get out of a $50 million judgment is just another big business move on his and Benjamin's part. Capehart looks to yet another dissenting opinion of Justice Robin Davis for support while leaving out the actual facts of the case. Justice Davis' husband is Charleston attorney Scott Segal. Of course Mr. Segal would be well informed as to the workings of the Supreme Court his wife sits on. Mr. Segal would obviously keep up with the court and would know if Justice McGraw was tough on crime. Armed with this knowledge Mr. Segal is a strong Warren McGraw supporter, not a Benjamin supporter. Mr. Capehart's own Republican Party soundly rejected him in the May primary in his attempt to run for governor. It now appears he is about to go 0 for 2 in 2004, this time as a campaign manager. West Virginians know better than to allow out-of-state corporations to purchase a seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court. I would disclose that I am a supporter of Justice McGraw's tireless efforts as a justice, but I am in no way affiliated with his campaign. Gregory A. Gellner Greg Gellner |
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Byrd votes for McGraw October 27, 2004 BECKLEY State Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw said Wednesday he is grateful for the public support he has received from U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., during McGraw’s re-election campaign. During a rally in Beckley this weekend, Byrd said he voted early and cast his ballot in the Supreme Court race for McGraw, a Democrat. “I appreciate Senator Byrd endorsing my candidacy in such a public manner,” McGraw said. “I was not aware he was going to make a public statement and I am grateful. “I believe Senator Byrd knows what this election is all about and he does not want the people of West Virginia to be fooled,” McGraw said. “It is about a group of out-of-state interests trying to buy the Supreme Court that is now owned by the people of West Virginia. “It is about the interests of those greedy people in trying to strip away the right of West Virginians to elect their own judges; have access to their own court system; and to control their own destiny without being dictated to by robber barons,” McGraw said. McGraw, first elected to the court in 1998, is seeking a full 12-year term in the Nov. 2 election. Don Blankenship, president of Massey Coal Co., a nonunion Richmond, Va., company, has donated $1.7 million to help defeat McGraw. He is helping finance a powerful coalition of large business interests and insurance companies, which has made McGraw the target of the most expensive court race in the nation. |
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Warren McGraw pulls out 'big guns' in whirlwind tour By Mannix Porterfield/REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER Warren McGraw pulled out the big guns -- both the political and hunting variety -- in a whirlwind campaign tour that went south to north Tuesday in the final week of a heated state Supreme Court race. Accompanied by a number of political bigwigs, among them onetime gubernatorial nominee Charlotte Pritt, the Democratic justice stumped a number of southern coal towns after a huge rally at Democratic headquarters in Charleston. Much of the talk focused on Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who put up $1.7 million to run attack ads on television against McGraw through a 527 group known as And For the Sake of The Kids. "These commercials are very dishonest," United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts declared. "This has nothing to do with the kids. It's for the sake of company executives and you know it's for the sake of Don Blankenship." Roberts told McGraw supporters non-union Massey has been fined more than any other company in the state for violating pollution laws. The union leader also cited Blankenship's interview with a Charleston newspaper in 1985 in which he was quoted as saying, "If everyone worked for free, everyone would have a job in West Virginia." About 200 supporters kicked off McGraw's tour at Democratic headquarters, where state Chairman Nick Casey likewise lashed out at Blankenship and the 527 group using the airwaves to boost the candidacy of Republican challenger Brent Benjamin in the race for a 12-year court term. With Blankenship funneling in mega-bucks to the 527 group, Casey charged, it's tantamount to trying to "buy an election in West Virginia." "I'm tired of it," he said. "It's not going to happen." Roberts said Blankenship and the state Chamber of Commerce are working in tandem in "an outrageous attack" on McGraw in an effort to give business a preferred seat on the bench, but predicted their effort will fizzle. "I don't think West Virginia citizens are for sale," the UMWA leader said. Hundreds turned out for mini-rallies in Chapmanville, Logan and Williamson, and the tour was to end with a flight to Harrisville, focusing on John Kerry's bid to win West Virginia's five electoral votes. Roberts was joined by another labor figure, Kenny Perdue, president of the West Virginia Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. McGraw also blasted the massive spending on attack ads, saying, "The people of West Virginia are not going to stand for that." With political ammo spent at the rallies, McGraw then turned his attention to the real McCoy -- a shiny new, 20-gauge Remington Model 870 shotgun, made by UMW-represented workers at a plant in New York. Pritt, a loser to Republican Cecil Underwood in the 1996 race for governor, appeared with the entourage on behalf of Ken Hechler, the party's nominee for a return tenure as secretary of state. |
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MASSEY CEO'S POLITICAL DONATIONS QUESTIONED Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE The man whose company won a $50 million lawsuit in 2002 against Massey Energy is worried about the huge amount of money Massey's CEO has put into the state Supreme Court race. Hugh Caperton said he was "deeply disturbed" to read that Don Blankenship, Massey's CEO, chairman and president, had personally funded $1.7 million to an organization called And for the Sake of the Kids. That group is working to defeat incumbent Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw, who is running against Republican Brent Benjamin. "It isn't for the sake of the children of our state that Mr. Blankenship is spending that much money," Caperton said during an interview in Charleston on Wednesday. "A question we all have to ask is whether we, as West Virginians, want one person such as Don Blankenship to dictate who our next Supreme Court justice is going to be," he said. In August 2002, a Boone County jury found Massey guilty of fraud because it forced Caperton's company, Harman Mining, out of business and awarded Harman and Caperton $50 million. With interest, that verdict is now worth more than $61 million. Massey will probably appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. If so, the winner of the election between McGraw and Benjamin could be the deciding vote as to whether the Supreme Court upholds the verdict against Massey. Rob Capehart, who manages Benjamin's campaign, said on Wednesday that he could not comment on what Benjamin might do if he wins the election and the Harman case is appealed to the Supreme Court. Capehart also said he could not comment on whether Benjamin might recuse himself from sitting on the case if it does come before the Supreme Court. "As a businessman, I have firsthand knowledge of how Mr. Blankenship operates," Caperton said Wednesday. "I was the owner and operator of Harman Mining Co., an independent mining company that Massey, under his direction, deliberately put out of business. "During their destruction of my company, Mr. Blankenship personally threatened me not to sue Massey. He told me they had spent $1 million a month on attorneys and he would tie me up in court for years. He has succeeded." Caperton and Harman have been in court for seven years. "During the [Boone County] trial, Massey did their best to attack me personally and destroy my reputation much like Mr. Blankenship is doing through the guise of the organization And for the Sake of the Kids to Justice McGraw during this campaign." Harman Mining produced high-quality metallurgical coal from mines near Grundy, Va., until Massey forced it out of business and into bankruptcy by late 1997. Blankenship broke a 10-year coal supply contract Harman had with Wellmore Coal, shortly after Massey bought Wellmore, and its parent company United Coal, on July 31, 1997. Blankenship switched that contract from Harman to his company's mines in Boone County, which are all nonunion. When Harman Mining was forced to close and file bankruptcy, 150 miners lost their jobs. Harman sued Massey in Virginia state courts and won a $6 million verdict in May 2001 for "bad faith and breach of contract." After the Virginia Supreme Court refused to hear Massey's appeal, Massey paid Harman $7.2 million, including $1.2 million in interest, in November 2002. The Boone County verdict for $50 million came in a lawsuit charging that Massey and its subsidiaries "tortiously interfered with Harman's contract with Wellmore and, as a result, caused Harman to go out of business." And for the Sake of the Kids raised about $2.5 million in just 40 days between Aug. 20, when the group was formed, and Sept. 30, the end of the first reporting period required by the Internal Revenue Service. Of that, Blankenship contributed $1.7 million. Blankenship has also sent three different letters to physicians, businessmen and coal industry executives urging them to contribute directly to Benjamin's campaign committee. Last week, Ron Stollings, a Boone County physician from Madison, sent letters to registered nurses around the state, urging them to help elect Benjamin. In the letter, Stollings wrote, "Don Blankenship has been kind enough to pay for this mailing." To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164. |
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Edward Peeks October 26, 2004 The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed school segregation in 1954 and the fallout from this momentous decision left, among other things, the activist judge syndrome, seen and felt by those today who decry judges they say make law instead of applying it. By dictionary definition, a syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality. As seen by grim-jawed court watchers, the abnormality affects education, the economy and practically everything else in West Virginia. The watchers and the waiters intend to unseat state Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw in this presidential election year, targeting him as a prime activist judge. They are all over him like dew covers Dixie. It will be recalled that Dixiecrats rose up in arms after the high court desegregation decision, which they took as the mother of misbegotten matters fathered by an activist court. The ruling triggered a stampede by Dixiecrats from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, then led by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. And then unknown to the general public, Thurmond was supporting and educating a girl he fathered by a black servant. So much for hypocrisy. But at least to the credit of the late senator, he provided for his daughter, no less than court watchers and friends who are shipping in barrels of money from around the country in the judicial race between McGraw the Democrat and Republican Brent Benjamin. I see from public accounts that the race has brought more money in the state than the flu vaccine by all other means. Millions generated mostly from television commercials saying, “Warren McGraw is making law instead of applying law.” They further say he is “soft on crime” and voted in the 3-2 decision by the court that spared a young sex offender from a long prison sentence after he violated probation by using alcohol and drugs. But worse, the offender got a janitorial job at a high school, TV commercials and other advertising brayed, stirring fears of parents about the safety of their children in the hands of an activist judge. Early on, doctors, business people and defense lawyers spent about $2 million on an advertising campaign that blamed McGraw for rising insurance rates and the state’s lagging economy. Later this year, out-of-state groups helped to raise another million dollars for the ongoing attack on McGraw’s judicial record, which he and others said was exaggerated beyond any resemblance of truth. Plaintiff’s lawyers and labor unions spent about a million in an advertising blitz counterattacking charges against McGraw and firing on the record of his Republican opponent. Now the issue was joined. It reminds me that former Republican Gov. Earl Warren of California was chief judge of the U.S. Supreme Court who presided over the unanimous school desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education, decided on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The decision put an end to forcing Linda Brown of Topeka, Kan., to walk by a school for whites to get to the one for her and other black children. The court stopped the racial insult that was not unlike sex abuse of a child. Judges may stop abuses of all kinds. But they don’t make or take jobs, nor raise the cost of life and health insurance. Those are business matters in the hands of business people and investors, despite the activist judge syndrome in the minds of certain court watchers. Peeks is a former Gazette business/labor editor. |
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Big-bucks backer felt he had to try Coal executive put $1.7 million into fierce battle against McGraw Brad McElhinny Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship isn't sure the million-dollar shot he is taking at incumbent Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw will pay off, but he says it's worth every penny. "It will be worthwhile win or lose for me personally," Blankenship said. "I wanted the satisfaction of knowing I had done the right thing, which is what I always try to do. "It will make me feel good to know they had to fight for one. It's one of those things I did to see if it would work. If it doesn't work out, I will still feel good about myself about having tried to do it." Blankenship has poured at least $1.7 million -- a dollar for every West Virginian -- into an attempt to unseat McGraw, according to recently filed documents. He says his huge investment in overturning the state Supreme Court justice was inspired by a documentary he watched. The documentary was about Vladimir Putin and the struggles of the Russian economy. "The show said he needed two things: A fair press and a fair courts system," Blankenship said. "I couldn't find anything that fit West Virginia any better than that. It was pretty apparent that what we needed for the kids in West Virginia was to beat McGraw." The election season stare-down between McGraw and Blankenship represents the split between the businesses led by executives like Blankenship and the union workers whom McGraw says he protects. It represents the divide between companies and the plaintiffs' attorneys who give money to McGraw. Contrary to popular speculation that out-of-state business interests were leading the fight against McGraw, the man behind the million-dollar donations turned out to be Blankenship, a coal executive and Williamson resident. "It's a dogfight. It's an old Hatfield-McCoy thing," said Robert Rupp, a political scientist at West Virginia Wesleyan College. "This is the hottest race, it is the most expensive, and now we saw with the revelation of the contribution that it's an in-house fight." McGraw's campaign says Blankenship is trying to buy the court. They say he wants to replace McGraw with someone who will side with corporate interests, rolling back protections that benefit workers. "We have said all along that special interests are trying to buy this election in a bid to tell West Virginians how to vote and to deny them the right to elect their own judges," said McGraw's campaign manager, Andy Gallagher. "They are trying to buy onto the court a totally unqualified candidate and defeat a man with an impressive record as a prosecutor, legislator and jurist." Blankenship's company has a long history of friction with union and community groups. The United Mine Workers union has blasted his heavy spending in the Supreme Court race. "Judging by the level of Don Blankenship's contribution, this group should instead be calling itself ‘And for the Sake of Don Blankenship,' " said UMW President Cecil Roberts. "Operating a campaign group that bills itself as helping children when it would appear the group is really just a front for corporate interests is politics at its absolute worst." Roberts said he hopes all the spending by Blankenship produces a backlash to benefit McGraw. "The UMW hopes that on Nov. 2 West Virginians will send a strong message to Blankenship and the chamber that their kind of politics does not work. When all is said and done, Justice McGraw is much better for West Virginia than Don Blankenship can ever hope to be." Blankenship is the top investor for a group called And for the Sake of the Kids, which is named for its belief that McGraw's policies are bad for children and their future. The Kids group has stirred controversy by running advertisements that accuse McGraw of voting for the release of convicted sexual offender Tony D. Arbaugh. The probation plan for Arbaugh would have made him a janitor in a school. McGraw's campaign is currently running advertisements that say he never voted to release the man or to make him a school janitor. McGraw's opponents say the advertisements are untrue and the result of panic. "It caught them off guard," Blankenship said, "and you can tell by the fact that they didn't get their lies lined out early enough. "First, they said they released him but didn't allow him to go into a high school. Then they went to the fact that he was a role model and started to say every young man deserves a chance. Then they said everyone, including McGraw, is allowed one mistake. Then they just said he didn't release him. It's the most incredible lies I've ever seen." Blankenship contends more people in power should be lining up against McGraw. "What's amazing is I'm not as surprised or disappointed by McGraw as I am by the government community and legal community in general and people who know and won't publicly say this guy voted to release Arbaugh. There are a lot of people who know he's lying and are unwilling to step up." Blankenship says he wants McGraw gone because of the justice's effect on the economy. He contends businesses leave West Virginia or resist investing in the state because they fear expensive lawsuits. Blankenship says the court is biased in favor of plaintiffs. "I think Warren is by far the most damaging to the state of any politician who holds office. "Jobs providers -- which is a much better word than businesses or corporations -- are so disadvantaged in this court system. Without jobs, you can't have a strong economy. McGraw and the supporters he has are what cause West Virginia to be last in everything." He says the Supreme Court election is the most important in West Virginia this year. That's because the term lasts for 12 years. "Every kid that is in school in West Virginia from kindergarten to high school will graduate under the term of this office, so it's incredible," Blankenship said. "It wasn't so much a feeling like he was beatable as it was continuing to be reminded of the need to beat him. About everything down here (in southern West Virginia) is gone. From Welch to Iaeger to Williamson, it's gone. We just thought we'd give it a shot and see what happened. If you make the public aware of just how corrupt and deceitful they've been, maybe the public will vote for the alternative. I'm not sure they will." After all the advertisements and all of the spending, Blankenship still says the election might be McGraw's to lose. "I think you have to bet on McGraw after 40 years" in politics, Blankenship said. "You have to bet on them against Benjamin after 40 years. I have some money, but I don't have the money that plaintiffs' attorneys have." Contact writer Brad McElhinny at 348-4872. |
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Heated court race Brad McElhinny Bonnie Willard finds something familiar -- but not so comforting -- about the ongoing race for state Supreme Court. "It reminds me of kindergarten," she said. Like most West Virginians, she has been deluged with advertisements in which incumbent Justice Warren McGraw is accused of being a "radical" who is soft on crime. Anti-McGraw ads also have featured a rant by the justice at a Labor Day rally. McGraw's camp has countered that opponent Brent Benjamin lacks the qualifications to sit on the court. More advertisements have depicted Benjamin as "a man who believes there is no place in our public life for the Bible." Potential voters like Willard say they're turned off by the whole spectacle. "I wish everyone would lay off," said Willard, who works for a mental health agency in South Charleston. "It's embarrassing. I was on the Internet, and they were talking about how it's been so blunt." The race between the incumbent McGraw and the political novice Benjamin seems unexpectedly close, even as the mud flies. Thirty percent of likely voters said they would vote for McGraw and 29 percent for Benjamin, according to a survey produced recently by the local firm Ryan McGinn Samples for the anti-McGraw group And for the Sake of the Kids. But a huge number -- 41 percent -- remains undecided, according to the survey. McGraw's campaign says the survey reflects the results desired by its opposition. "We don't believe the polling data because For the Sake of the Kids has a vested financial interest in showing that the race is tight, but that their buddy still needs help," said Andy Gallagher, McGraw's campaign manager. He agreed that many people might still be trying to determine the best candidate, but he said that's a result of negative advertising and constant accusations. "A lot of voters may be undecided because they have been barraged by lies that have confused them and we are only now being able to get out our message to tell them the truth," Gallagher said. "But Warren McGraw's basic constituency was there and always has been. We are simply going to build on that." The Kids group that has battled McGraw and paid for the survey says it reflects the negative image of the candidate that is now strong in many voters' minds. "It is no surprise that once the public found out more about Warren McGraw's record, that folks have a negative view of him," said Rob Cornelius, a spokesman for the group that is largely funded by Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship. "Over 110,000 Democrats voted against Warren McGraw in the primary, so we knew this race would be close. This contest is exceptionally competitive and will stay so over the next two weeks." Not everyone is happy that there is still a week remaining for the campaign. "I think it's ridiculous," said Edward Pence, a South Charleston retiree. "They're bringing up a lot of stuff at the last minute that gets personal. In my mind, it doesn't even enter into the case." Another potential voter, James Pierce of Scott Depot, said he is turned off by the negative advertising. But he said it has helped him make up his mind against McGraw. "I think it's kind of rotten," said Pierce as he walked into a local Lowe's store. "I just don't like McGraw. I voted for him in the past, but I think he's off the deep end now. It's time for a change." Political observers say the race is one of the ugliest they can remember. "I've watched judicial races for a long time, and this race is one of the nastiest I've seen," said Richard Brisbin, a professor of judicial politics at West Virginia University. "It even beats the Democratic primary (for state Supreme Court) of 1998 and the Democratic primary this year by far." Brisbin bets most of the undecided voters will break toward McGraw because he is the incumbent Democrat. "There's often a lot of undecideds for those races down the ballot," he said. "People end up deciding a lot on the basis of party identification. He has a 2-to-1 advantage in terms of registered voters, so if everyone votes their party, he's going to win." Lots of voters might mark their ballots while holding their noses, though. "I'm just turned off by the whole thing," said Betsey Eads of Scott Depot, who was shopping last week at Target. "I think the candidates are digging their own graves. I'm not into nasty." Contact writer Brad McElhinny at 348-4872. |
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Courting trouble October 26, 2004 MILLIONAIRE coal operator Don Blankenship of Massey Energy had a leisurely dinner with state Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard at Charleston's pricey Chop House the other evening. Meanwhile, Blankenship has poured $1.7 million of his own money into a bizarre attempt to replace Maynard's fellow justice, Warren McGraw. Roll Call, the Capitol Hill political journal in Washington, reported on this bitter West Virginia battle last week. It quoted McGraw campaign manager Andy Gallagher: "I've been licking people's feet to get money, and then one guy spends $1.7 million. It's disgraceful." Monday, a long news report portrayed Blankenship as a lone crusader willing to invest his personal fortune in a struggle to remake the state's high court to suit his beliefs. Here's what troubles us: Massey cases, such as a $60 million Boone County verdict against the firm, sometimes come before the Supreme Court. It's awkward if the Massey chief has cozy dinners with one justice and spends millions to replace another. Hill Toriseva & Williams |
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West Virginia Supreme Court candidates sound off Each Thursday The Dominion Post will feature W arren McGraw, a Democrat and current West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals justice, said his experience on the state's highest court makes him worthy of another term. McGraw said his Republican opponent, Brent Benjamin, has no political experience but that is the very thing one needs to serve on the court. "Clearly, my experience means a lot," McGraw said. "And my record on the Supreme Court clearly establishes where I stand on the issues." McGraw said he would not try to change the structure of the court. "The only thing you could change is the end result of the court's ruling," he said. "And the court doesn't bring up issues; the people bring issues to the court." McGraw's take on Benjamin's advertising regarding the Tony Dean Arbaugh case is that out-of-state contributions to Benjamin's campaign reveal that special interests are trying to make a bid for the seat. "My opponent obviously is in with some pretty big businesses, and my contributors are more small business," he said. "I have seen copies of letters to his campaign sent from Kentucky. I find that interesting." McGraw said the ads have not reflected the case accurately and are dishonest. "The truth is, they are so out of context, it's horrible," he said. "The case is a recognition of existing law and is not a new provision by the court or a particular justice." McGraw also said the ads unfairly portray him as "anti-family." "I've been married for 43 years," he said. "I've educated three children and have six children. They are the apples of my eye. And I'm doing what my ancestors wanted -- to make life better for the folks that follow us." McGraw expressed concern about the apathy by the younger people who today seem to be less interested in participating in the Democratic process. "I think youngsters used to have more concern about their neighbors," he said. Candidate InfoNAME: Warren McGraw PARTY: Democrat AGE: 65 ADDRESS: Pineville EDUCATION: A.B. in 1960 from Morris Harvey College (University of Charleston), attended WVU graduate school and earned his J.D. in 1963 from Wake Forest (Baptist) University. He was admitted to the West Virginia State Bar in 1963. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Open-hearth steel worker, U.S. Steel Corporation; U.S. Department of Justice trail attorney (civil rights and vote fraud) Washington, D.C.; and the private general practice of law. POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: McGraw was elected as a West Virginia delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1972 and 1974; served as a member of the Delegate and Senatorial District Executive committees; served as a delegate to the State Democratic Judicial Convention and the State Democratic Convention. Elected to West Virginia Supreme Court, 1998. |
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Massey CEO's political donations questioned October 21, 2004 The man whose company won a $50 million lawsuit in 2002 against Massey Energy is worried about the huge amount of money Massey’s CEO has put into the state Supreme Court race. Hugh Caperton said he was “deeply disturbed” to read that Don Blankenship, Massey’s CEO, chairman and president, had personally funded $1.7 million to an organization called And for the Sake of the Kids. That group is working to defeat incumbent Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw, who is running against Republican Brent Benjamin. - advertisement- “A question we all have to ask is whether we, as West Virginians, want one person such as Don Blankenship to dictate who our next Supreme Court justice is going to be,” he said. In August 2002, a Boone County jury found Massey guilty of fraud because it forced Caperton’s company, Harman Mining, out of business and awarded Harman and Caperton $50 million. With interest, that verdict is now worth more than $61 million. Massey will probably appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. If so, the winner of the election between McGraw and Benjamin could be the deciding vote as to whether the Supreme Court upholds the verdict against Massey. Rob Capehart, who manages Benjamin’s campaign, said on Wednesday that he could not comment on what Benjamin might do if he wins the election and the Harman case is appealed to the Supreme Court. Capehart also said he could not comment on whether Benjamin might recuse himself from sitting on the case if it does come before the Supreme Court. “As a businessman, I have firsthand knowledge of how Mr. Blankenship operates,” Caperton said Wednesday. “I was the owner and operator of Harman Mining Co., an independent mining company that Massey, under his direction, deliberately put out of business. “During their destruction of my company, Mr. Blankenship personally threatened me not to sue Massey. He told me they had spent $1 million a month on attorneys and he would tie me up in court for years. He has succeeded.” Caperton and Harman have been in court for seven years. “During the [Boone County] trial, Massey did their best to attack me personally and destroy my reputation much like Mr. Blankenship is doing through the guise of the organization And for the Sake of the Kids to Justice McGraw during this campaign.” - advertisement- Blankenship broke a 10-year coal supply contract Harman had with Wellmore Coal, shortly after Massey bought Wellmore, and its parent company United Coal, on July 31, 1997. Blankenship switched that contract from Harman to his company’s mines in Boone County, which are all nonunion. When Harman Mining was forced to close and file bankruptcy, 150 miners lost their jobs. Harman sued Massey in Virginia state courts and won a $6 million verdict in May 2001 for “bad faith and breach of contract.” After the Virginia Supreme Court refused to hear Massey’s appeal, Massey paid Harman $7.2 million, including $1.2 million in interest, in November 2002. The Boone County verdict for $50 million came in a lawsuit charging that Massey and its subsidiaries “tortiously interfered with Harman’s contract with Wellmore and, as a result, caused Harman to go out of business.” And for the Sake of the Kids raised about $2.5 million in just 40 days between Aug. 20, when the group was formed, and Sept. 30, the end of the first reporting period required by the Internal Revenue Service. Of that, Blankenship contributed $1.7 million. Blankenship has also sent three different letters to physicians, businessmen and coal industry executives urging them to contribute directly to Benjamin’s campaign committee. Last week, Ron Stollings, a Boone County physician from Madison, sent letters to registered nurses around the state, urging them to help elect Benjamin. In the letter, Stollings wrote, “Don Blankenship has been kind enough to pay for this mailing.” To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164. |