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    The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption
    Unavailable
    The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption
    Unavailable
    The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption
    Ebook581 pages8 hours

    The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption

    By Laurence Leamer

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A nonfiction legal thriller that traces the fourteen-year struggle of two lawyers to bring the most powerful coal baron in American history, Don Blankenship, to justice

    Don Blankenship, head of Massey Energy since the early 1990s, ran an industry that provides nearly half of America's electric power. But wealth and influence weren't enough for Blankenship and his company, as they set about destroying corporate and personal rivals, challenging the Constitution, purchasing the West Virginia judiciary, and willfully disregarding safety standards in the company's mines—in which scores died unnecessarily.

    As Blankenship hobnobbed with a West Virginia Supreme Court justice in France, his company polluted the drinking water of hundreds of citizens while he himself fostered baroque vendettas against anyone who dared challenge his sovereignty over coal mining country. Just about the only thing that stood in the way of Blankenship's tyranny over a state and an industry was a pair of odd-couple attorneys, Dave Fawcett and Bruce Stanley, who undertook a legal quest to bring justice to this corner of America. From the backwoods courtrooms of West Virginia they pursued their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and to a dramatic decision declaring that the wealthy and powerful are not entitled to purchase their own brand of law.
    The Price of Justice is a story of corporate corruption so far-reaching and devastating it could have been written a hundred years ago by Ida Tarbell or Lincoln Steffens. And as Laurence Leamer demonstrates in this captivating tale, because it's true, it's scarier than fiction.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMay 7, 2013
    ISBN9781429953696
    Unavailable
    The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption
    Author

    Laurence Leamer

    Laurence Leamer is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including The Kennedy Women and The Price of Justice. He has worked in a French factory and a West Virginia coal mine, and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal. His play, Rose, was produced off Broadway last year. He lives in Palm Beach, Florida, and Washington, D.C., with his wife, Vesna Obradovic Leamer.

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    Reviews for The Price of Justice

    4.5/5

    8 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      What a great book. The Price of Justice by Lawrence Leamer is truly one of the better legal books or case studies that I have read recently. When reading the book you are taken into a Justice system that is clearly in deep trouble. You need no prior knowledge of this case to enjoy this book and when you are finished which is shortly after you started you will realize how systems and especially the judicial system can spin out of control. L.Leamer with this book causes the reader to become emotionally involved anger, disgust and how could this happen. Then you realize that all this is still going on and you get an uneasy feeling almost fear. The book then having been read left me wondering where is all this at now. Thus more reading and actually hearing and seeing interviews of some of the players. I appreciate the fact that I was able to get this book and read it.
    • 3/5
      The legal story of Caperton v. Massey covers a span of fourteen years. The lawsuit and the story behind the lawsuit was interesting, but there was a lot of filler material, presented as backstory, in this book. It was this filler material that detracted from the overall story, in my opinion.
    • 5/5
      Dani Mueller legally changed her name and relocated to Austin, Texas. This happened after Dani's daughter was murdered and the man accused of the crime was acquitted. Later, the body of this man was found, murdered. The man's family think Dani killed him and they begin to harass and stalk her. This is why she decided on a new life.Dani works for the Austin PD as a crime scene investigator. She goes to a trial of a man accused of murdering a child about the same age as Dani's daughter. This man is acquitted and she decides to seek her own revenge but someone beats her to it.Jason Scarsdale is a detective on the Austin PD. He's involved in attempting to solve two murders. He comes into contact with Dani and when she learns he has a five-year-old daughter. She asks Jason to bring her to bring your child to work day.Jason had recently lost his wife and when he brings Shannon to work, Shannon and Dani make an immediate connection, filling empty spots in each other's lives.Dani, Jason and Shannon are well described characters who are realistic and sympathetic. The evil characters are also well described and we hope they will be punished. With the good characters pitted against the evil ones, we have the ingredients of a good mystery novel.I received this book from the author in return for my honest review.
    • 4/5
      A true-life legal thriller about two incredible trial lawyers and their cause to make the world a better place. I knew some of it from news over the years, but hearing the whole story in a single narrative is much better. (My next book is on developments in green energy, how it is replacing dirty energy like coal around the world.)
    • 5/5
      Reads like Grisham, but better because tis real. Mining, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. Coal mining and what Appalachia has done with the industry should go down in the annals of geology as what not to do with the world we have been given. Blankenship is an unqualified piss-ant.
    • 5/5
      The Price of Justice by Laurence Leamer is a very detailed book about corruption and greed. Two lawyer's, Bruce Stanley and Dave Fawcett, determination and dedication to correcting a wrong done by a corrupt and arrogant man Massey CEO Don Blankenship. This book gives a very fasinating look at the coal industry and the miners and families that work in West Virginia. In a trial that lasted over a decade and cost millions of dollars and a corrupt legal system with no end in site they still are fighting to right a wrong. You would almost think that you were reading a thrilling legal novel in genre of John Grisham. It is a very good read.
    • 5/5
      Where to begin? I thought this might be dry reading-wrong! Couldn't put it down. A story of lives ruined due to corporate greed and political corruption-frightening because it's true. It makes you view mining disasters in a whole new light & seriously question how level the scales of justice really are. So interesting, I'll be tracking the final result through the Virginia state supreme court. These two lawyers are true heroes & still fighting.
    • 5/5
      The Price of Justice by Laurence Leamer is a true-life legal thriller keeping the reader on the edge for the whole book. The story begins in the late 1990’s when a coal mine went bankrupt. The company went bankrupt due to multiple causes, but the largest cause was the machinations of a larger coal company to drive the company into bankruptcy. The mine, the Harman mine, was one man’s dream to be an owner- operator of a coal mine. Through various machinations the large coal company first stopped buying the coal from the mine and later engaged in dubious negotiations to buy the mine. Ultimately, the owner had no option but to declare bankruptcy. However, he determined to fight the large company, Massey Energy and its CEO, Don Blakenship, for unfair practices. The story starts at this point and the legal fight begins and continues for years. Occasional successes are tempered by even larger adverse ruling later. The contribution of very large sums of money to elect a Supreme Court justice who would vote the way the president and CEO of Massey wanted ended the case in the Supreme Court of the United States. Despite a favorable ruling there the case returned to West Virginia and still had an unfavorable outcome. The story is told through the two lawyers most instrumental in fighting this case and how they responded to the legal conflict. It is a real life example of corporate greed and avarice to drive any and all competitors out so that the money flows at its’ maximum into the coffers of the richer company.Not normally a reader of legal thrillers I nonetheless found I could not put this one down once I started it. The legal jargon is a minimum and the explanations of what was at stake and how it was done was clear. I enjoyed this book because it is well organized and written well and never let me put it down. I give this book 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      My thanks to LT's early reviewers' program and to the publishers for my copy of this book. When I first requested the book I thought it sounded interesting, and once I picked it up, I didn't realize just how blah a word "interesting" would come to be in this case. That cliché about not being able to put the book was absolutely true for me. I'll get right to the point and say that this is one of the most outstanding books I've read this year. For several reasons this book struck a personal chord, and I wish I could say that I was surprised at some of the blatant misdeeds going on in the courts and among politicians as outlined by Mr. Leamer in this most excellent book, but frankly, I'm not. Aside from those issues, I was also deeply disturbed by the blatant disregard that one man in the coal industry showed for his workers and other human beings whose lives were turned upside down, ruined or extinguished by his unscrupulous business & political practices. His absolute control was backed up by threats, intimidation, money and protection from court officials and politicians who looked out for their own financial and political interests, rather than for the interests of the victims. Had the above-mentioned subjects been all there was to this book, it still would have been good, but Mr. Leamer also examines the price paid in personal terms by everyone involved on the side of obtaining justice, including the dedicated attorneys fighting this man for over 14 years. Other reviewers have correctly noted that this book reads like a legal thriller, and while I'm not a huge fan of that genre, The Price of Justice kept me turning pages until the very end. Definitely and highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      A damning book on the political culture of West Virginia in particular and a judicial system that doesn’t care about truth in general. For more than 14 years two Pittsburgh attorneys fight the good fight in trying to bring the head of Massey Energy to justice over a corporate executive (Don Blankenship) that cares little about safety standards or business ethics and is willing to spend millions to bury his competitors and buy the West Virginia Supreme Court. Eventually, winding its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the story of Massey Energy and the bankrupt Harman Mining Company reflects the rather sad state of affairs where corporations can buy local and state officials and put upside down the concept of justice in America. Spoiler alert: The story doesn’t really have a happy ending for those living in West Virgina. Laurence Leamer has written a thriller of a story that can almost be said to be stranger (and scarier) than fiction.
    • 5/5
      Few times have I been as risen to anger and disgust at the United States legal system and corporate greed and arrogance as I was while reading Laurence Leamer’s The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption.The narrative is built around Caperton v. Massey Coal Company, a landmark case that would make its way to the United States Supreme Court. In 1998, Hugh Caperton filed a lawsuit against Massey Coal Company for intentionally breaking its contract in order to destroy his company, get rid of his union workers, and financially ruin Caperton himself. The man behind it was West Virginia’s most notorious and powerful corporate bully, Massey Coal CEO Don Blankenship. Caperton and his two attorneys, Bruce Stanley and Dave Fawcett, began a series of vicious legal battles against Massey and Blankenship that have lasted more than a decade and inspired John Grisham’s novel The Appeal.Leamer tells of how Caperton, Stanley, and Fawcett won a $50 million jury verdict and how Blankenship used his money and power to never pay it. Blankenship used his lawyers to delay certification of the verdict in order to push his appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court until after the judicial election. He then created a 527 PAC to dump $3 million of his own money into attack ads against a justice who was not likely to vote in his favor in support of his own candidate. In doing so, the life of a young victim of child abuse was collateral damage, ruined by Blankenship’s campaign. Blankenship was able to buy the seat on the WV Supreme Court for Brent Benjamin, who refused to recuse himself from Blankenship’s appeal and voted in his favor. (This corrupt jurist currently sits as Chief Justice of the WV Supreme Court). Leamer also describes the corrupt jurist Robin Jean Davis and how she manipulated the court and took deals that would benefit her lawyer-husband. (She also remains on the court). Benjamin’s failure to recuse becomes the central legal issue in the Supreme Court case.Bruce Stanley and Dave Fawcett take on a number of other cases against Massey and Blankenship, ranging from contract breaches like Caperton’s to wrongful death and polluting water supplies. Leamer does an excellent job portraying those involved and telling the stories of these cases and the victims of Blankenship’s greed.The Price of Justice reads like a legal thriller, yet these events actually happened. Leamer shines a light on a legal system that is often corrupt, on a corporate culture where profits are more important than lives, and on the sad fact that justice is the David against the Goliath of money and power.