A closely divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a judge created an impermissible risk of bias by serving as both accuser and adjudicator.

"Where a judge has had an earlier significant, personal involvement in a critical decision in the defendant's case, the risk of actual bias in the judicial proceedings rises to an unconstitutional level," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote.

The case presented the eight justices with an uncomfortable subject: how to police their own profession.

Last year, they were divided 5-4 over Chief Justice John Roberts' ruling that Florida — and other states, by extension — can bar judges and judicial candidates from soliciting campaign donations.

In 2009, the court ruled 5-4 that a West Virginia Supreme Court justice should have recused himself from a case involving a company whose CEO had contributed to the judge's campaigns.



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/09/supreme-court-pennsylvania-judge-recusal-death-murder/85643578/