By Andrew Dys The Herald
(Published June 3‚ 2004)
CHESTER -- The S.C. Legislature won't pick a successor for 6th Circuit Judge Paul Short until next year, but there are few -- if any -- potential black candidates.
In a vote of the General Assembly last week, Chester's Short, who is white, narrowly defeated 5th Circuit Judge L. Casey Manning, who is black. Some in the state, including the Legislative Black Caucus, raised concerns about the appeals court election and for months have complained about the overall lack of diversity on the bench.
Short's circuit court slot covers Chester, Lancaster and Fairfield counties and will be open for election when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Census figures show Fairfield County has a 59 percent black population, Chester County, 39 percent, and Lancaster County, 27 percent. Any potential judge for the 6th Circuit must be at least 32 years old, live in one of the circuit's three counties, be a state resident for five years and be licensed for at least eight years, according to the Legislature's Judicial Merit Selection Commission.
Through a voluntary survey done at the request of the S.C. Black Lawyers Association, the S.C. Bar Association identified three black lawyers in the 6th Circuit, said state bar President Earl Ellis. However, one of those black lawyers, Gwendlyne Smalls, said she lives in Richland County. Smalls said she has never lived in Fairfield County but does some of her law work there. Another black lawyer who works in all three counties, 6th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Chris Taylor, said he neither lives in the circuit nor has the required eight years of experience. Assistant solicitors like Taylor are not required to live in the circuits in which they live. Another young lawyer lives in Winnsboro but also doesn't have the required eight years of experience.
"I don't know anybody who actually lives there," Smalls said of black lawyers living in the 6th Circuit.
"What this means is that any potential candidate won't mirror the population," said Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, and a member of the black caucus who has pushed for reform. Rutherford, a lawyer who does some practicing in the 6th Circuit, said, "It is a particular problem in that circuit."
Unlike South Carolina, 21 states elect judges by popular vote, Ellis said. South Carolina does have at-large judges also elected by the Legislature who can be from anywhere in the state. One at-large judge is from the 6th Circuit -- Kenneth Goode of Winnsboro, who is white. The circuit's two Family Court judges are also white.
The state is about 30 percent black, but only 7 percent of judges are black. However, that 7 percent just about mirrors the percentage of black lawyers in the state.
Manning's political loss to Short came under fire from South Carolina native Jesse Jackson on Monday and was of concern to many in the black caucus. "The fact Casey Manning didn't win hurt so badly because he is so electable," Rutherford said.
Smalls said she plans to run for the Family Court judge slot in the 5th Circuit, where she lives. The slot came open with the election of Judge Bruce Williams to the appeals court last week.
Ellis said the bar does not identify lawyers by race but has endorsed a bill -- introduced in the Legislature but not approved -- that would lift the current cap of three finalists for judge positions. Proponents say lifting the cap could open up judge seats to more candidates, including blacks.
Rutherford, opposed to popular vote judicial elections espoused by some as a way for diversity on the bench, also introduced a bill in the Legislature that hasn't passed which would drop the one-year waiting period for sitting legislators to run for judgeships.
"This would be another way to elect more black judges," Rutherford said. "There are dedicated lawyers already in public service who might be willing to run and win."
However, that idea won't help get more black candidates in the 6th Circuit right now because none of the members of the General Assembly representing those counties is black.
Short said Tuesday he expects to join the appeals court after he finishes with a double murder trial in Chester scheduled for later this month. S.C. Court Administration will have to send another circuit court judge to handle terms of court in the 6th Circuit until the Legislature can select a successor.
Andrew Dys • 329-4065
| Copyright © 2004 The Herald, South Carolina |