 Despite calls for Benjamin to recuse himself due to Blankenship's involvement in Benjamin's 2004 campaign, Benjamin remained on the case.Following the verdict, Harman Mining's owner, Hugh Caperton, appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in June 2009 that elected judges must recuse themselves from cases where exceptionally large campaign contributions from interested parties create the appearance of bias, and remanded the case to the West Virginia Supreme Court for a rehearing.Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy called the appearance of conflict of interest so "extreme" that Benjamin's failure to recuse himself constituted a threat to the plaintiff's Constitutional right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.