WASHINGTON, D.C. (WSAZ) -- United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy noted Tuesday that the Supreme Court's decision in Caperton v. Massey could have far-reaching implications in the way judges are elected and serve across the country.

Tuesday morning, lawyers for Harman Mining and Massey Energy made their cases to the US Supreme Court. Harman claims that West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin could not have been impartial in hearing cases involving Massey since Massey CEO Don Blankenship spent millions of dollars on a negative campaign against Benjamin's political opponent.

In 2004, Benjamin beat Warren McGraw for a seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court. Many credited Blankenship's negative ads against McGraw for putting Benjamin in office.

Benjamin joined the majority of the WV Supreme Court in ruling in favor of Massey over Harman Mining in a multi-million dollar case.

The lawyer for Massey, Andrew Frey, asked the justices to put themselves in Benjamin's position and ask themselves if they could be impartial hearing a case without owing someone a favor. However, Harman's lawyer, Ted Olson, argued that is not how a justice feels. Instead, Olson said it is about how the defandant feels and that there must be a constitutional standard to make sure there is no appearance of bias in a case.

During questioning from the justices, Chief Justice John Roberts said "probability is a loose term. What percentage is probable?"

Officials with the Public Information Office at the Supreme Court note that there has been significant interest from the public in this case. The Supreme Court will issue a written opinion later.

Monday, the West Virginia Supreme Court released a study showing that Benjamin has voted against Massey's interest more than 81% of his time on the bench.