JUNE 8 20091. Supreme Court issues landmark ruling on judicial recusal
2. Is Another Bush Prosecution About to Implode?
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1. Supreme Court issues landmark ruling on
judicial recusal
by Tony Mauro for the National Law Journal
In a landmark ruling that could affect state judicial elections
nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said that due process
can require a state judge to recuse when a party in a case before him
or her has had a "significant or disproportionate" influence on placing
the judge on the court through an outsized campaign donation.
The 5-4 decision in Caperton v. Massey Coal Co. introduces for the
first time a constitutional standard into the debate over the influence
of big money on judicial elections, which supporters said was a victory
for the rule of law. Some reformers even expressed hope on Monday
that the opinion would spur states to rethink judicial elections
altogether and move to merit selection. But critics said the ruling sets
a vague standard that will only trigger a flood of meritless recusal
motions and sully the reputation of the judiciary, not enhance it.
<link to source>
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2. Is Another Bush Prosecution About to
Implode?
by Roger Shuler of Legal Schnauzer
....It's the case of former Georgia senate leader Charles Walker, who
was convicted on a variety of corruption charges in 2005. The federal
judge who oversaw the Walker prosecution now has acknowledged
that he never should have been involved in the case because his
impartiality might reasonably have been questioned.
Walker supporters are pushing for a new trial. But Scott Horton,
legal-affairs contributor at Harper's, goes farther than that. He says
Attorney General Eric Holder should intervene and dismiss the case.
<link to source>
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| Image: captured from WRDW website Champ Walker wants his father's case overturned. |