Lawsuit: State Farm Covered Up Donations To State Supreme Court Justice
ST. LOUIS (CBS) -- A lawsuit has been filed over the last election of an Illinois Supreme Court justice, which was the most expensive in U.S. history.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, the suit accuses State Farm insurance of covering up its support for one candidate.
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The case involves a $1 billion verdict against State Farm from 1997, for directing the use of after-market parts and cars that had been involved in crashes, the Chicago Tribune recalled.
The Illinois Supreme Court voided the verdict last year, but now attorneys want the court to take another look.
Their petition claims State Farm pumped $2.5 million to $4 million into the 2004 campaign of Republican Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier, and hid that fact.
Attorneys says Karmeier refused to recuse himself from the State Farm case, and eventually voted to void the $1 billion judgment.
In response, State Farm notes that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge of the state court's ruling, and says the case was settled long ago.
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