CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The time has come for West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin to step down from the bench.

As the shadow falls on Massey Energy and its mine safety violations, the relationship between Benjamin and Massey CEO Don Blankenship grows darker.

U.S. Supreme Court rulings have found that a breach of public trust occurred when Benjamin wouldn't recuse himself from participating in "his principal financial supporter's case."

In Caperton v Massey, the high court found that Benjamin violated the due-process clause of the U.S. Constitution, stating: "The probability of actual bias on the part of the judge . . . is too high to be constitutionally tolerable."

As beneficiary of $3 million in campaign contributions from Blankenship, Benjamin violated U.S. Code 455(a), justices said. That code states: "Any justice, judge or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned."

The court further found that Benjamin violated the West Virginia Code of Judicial Conduct that also requires a judge to "disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned."

Also cited was the American Bar Association's objective standard: "A judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety."

Benjamin's breach of trust so moved the Washington court that it called for national judicial reform, citing Alabama's and Mississippi's codes of judicial conduct, which require "recusal based on campaign contributions similar to those in this case."

"These codes of conduct serve to maintain the integrity of the judiciary and are the principal safeguard against judicial campaign abuses," the court wrote. Benjamin's actions are an example "that threaten to imperil public confidence in the fairness and integrity of the nation's elected judges."

When Benjamin took his oath to uphold the Constitution, he was charged with holding the scales of justice and weighing equally. But the U.S. Supreme Court said "Blankenship's significant and disproportionate influence . . . led him (Benjamin) not to hold the balance nice, clear and true."

In a dissenting opinion, four U.S. justices further admonished Benjamin by characterizing his relationship with Massey's Blankenship as "quid pro quo corruption."

So, rather than uphold the U.S. Supreme Court's standard of a "presumption of honesty and integrity in those serving as adjudicators (who) apply the law impartially, with firmness, wisdom, or honor," we instead have an apparent lapdog for the coal industry.

Former West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher said it best: "Blankenship's bestowal of his personal wealth, political tactics, and 'friendship' have created a cancer in the affairs of this Court."

Justice Benjamin could help restore his honor by stepping down from the bench so we can begin the process of excising that cancer from the public good once and for all.

Swint is a Charleston-based commercial property broker.