Black legislators seek process change

To get more black judges on the bench, some black lawmakers said Wednesday they plan to propose a more open judicial selection process.

Rep. Leon Howard and Sen. Darrell Jackson, both Richland County Democrats, said they will file legislation that would allow more candidates to be considered in the final vote in the General Assembly.

Currently, no more than three candidates for each judgeship make it to a floor vote — even if more are found qualified. Those candidates are selected by a legislative panel that evaluates all candidates and recommends those it considers the best.

There are no written standards to rank the most qualified candidates, critics said.

The panel’s guidelines state candidates are evaluated on their professional and academic abilities, ethical fitness, character and reputation.

About 6 percent of judges elected by the Legislature are black.

Howard and Jackson want the three-candidate cap lifted. That would mean anyone found qualified by the screening panel could be elected by the Legislature, they said.

“It takes meaningful choice out of the hands of the (entire) Legislature,” Jackson said of the cap.

The cap also gives political cover to legislators who would not vote for a black candidate anyway, said Howard, Jackson and other members of the Legislative Black Caucus.

Reps. Joe Neal, D-Richland, and Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said they might support eliminating the cap.

But Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, a longtime, outspoken critic of the lack of black judges, said his colleagues’ proposal is a waste of time.

“If they want to do nothing, then they’re going in the right direction,” Ford said of lifting the cap.

Citing Wednesday’s vote on 37 judgeships, Ford said, “If we had a black in 37 races, all 37 would have lost,” Ford said.

Ford contends the only way to raise the number of black judges is through a federal court order. A lawsuit strategy is being devised, he said.

Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664 or cleblanc@thestate.com