The federal government has been granted another month to respond to former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's request that the U.S. Supreme Court hear an appeal of his criminal mine safety conviction.
A response from the Department of Justice's Office of Solicitor General had been due to the Supreme Court on Monday. The court gave DOJ until July 26 to file its response.
The court granted the extension after Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Wall said more time was needed "to complete preparation of the government's response, which was delayed because of the heavy press of earlier assigned cases to the attorneys handling this matter."
Blankenship spent one year in federal prison after he was convicted of conspiring to violate mine safety and health standards at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine, where 29 miners died in an April 2010 explosion.