THREE CANDIDATES SCREENED OUT FOR HIGH COURT VACANCY
A trio of judges have been selected to compete for an upcoming vacancy on the S.C. Supreme Court … although none of them were among the early favorites for the post.
In fact just one of the early frontrunners for the seat – S.C. chief administrative law judge Ralph King “Tripp” Anderson – made the cut for this coming spring’s legislative election.
Anderson ran for the bench earlier this year – losing out to John Few. Joining him in this year’s field are a pair of circuit court judges – Diane Goodstein of Summerville, S.C. and George C. “Buck” James of Sumter, S.C.
Anderson, Goodstein and James were “screened out” by the notoriously corrupt S.C. Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC) – which rejected several powerful plaintiffs’ attorneys who were thought to have an edge earlier in the process.
As we’ve repeatedly documented, the screening and election of judges by the S.C. General Assembly is nothing but political horse trading – and has been for years. “Merit” plays no role whatsoever in who becomes a judge in this state – nor does it play a role in the decisions they make once they are appointed.
Like most things in this perpetually ass-backward state, it’s all “who you know.”
Having said that, we will take a hard look at these three judges’ records in the hopes of commending one of them to state lawmakers.
(Banner via Sic)