John Grisham knows about Don Blankenship

It seems the famous author modeled the story of his latest novel after Don Blankenship's successful effort four years ago to get Brent Benjamine elected to the state Supreme Court.

From the Today show Web site:

The story plays out with a chemical company found guilty of dumping toxic waste and liable for the deaths of scores of people in a fictional Mississippi town. The owner of the company tries to get out of paying a $41 million settlement by spending millions to help elect a justice to the Mississippi Supreme Court that will swing the appeal the other way.

When Lauer asked if such a story was far-fetched, Grisham said, “It’s already happened.”

“It happened a few years ago in West Virginia. A guy owned a coal company. He got tired of getting sued. He elected his guy to the Supreme Court. It switched 5-4 back his way and he didn’t worry about getting sued.”

I didn't see the segment. If you want to read the story about it on the Today show site, click here.