With this week's S.C. Supreme Court ruling that the constitutional term "militia" includes the modern-day Reserves, Gov. Mark Sanford is free to continue his service in the Air Force Reserve. In rebuffing the Greenville man who brought the suit to force Sanford to give up the governorship or his Air Force commission, the court modernized part of the S.C. Constitution.
The text of that document bars governors from military service except to command and/or serve in the militia. In 1895, when the Constitution was written, the militia comprised citizens who, when called upon, snatched their rifles to defend their communities and the state from attack.
In its reinterpretation, the court said, 5-0, "We believe this history of the S.C. militia, a fighting force, which has consisted of the citizen-soldier, encompasses the Air Force Reserve and supports our finding."
Judicial activism? Not really. Sanford's Air Force service is in keeping with the the 19th century spirit of the militia, and the court did well to recognize that.
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