New evidence shows that an old problem in South Carolina needs fresh ideas.

The problem is that the state bench does not remotely look like South Carolina. One would think few blacks or women exist in South Carolina by looking at the state court. It would appear to be a state filled with white men. But that is not the case at all. The state is about half women. And it is about a third black. The General Assembly needs to find fresh approaches to see that the roster of judges looks more like the people the courts serve.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is the latest to study the situation. After looking at 728 judicial races involving 1,236 candidates since 1975, when legislative screening began, the obvious emerged. Men are much more likely than women to be elected to the bench by the General Assembly. And whites are much more likely to be elected than blacks. It is worse for blacks than it is for women.

It's little wonder that one prominent black lawyer called the study a waste of time, money and effort. I.S. Leevy Johnson of Columbia said black legislators have been saying the same thing for 35 years.

But although the study findings are not surprising, they should help define the problem.

And the new study should help legislators see that change is long overdue.

Part of the problem is that too few blacks are candidates. That needs to change. Remember that South Carolina schools were segregated, with blacks getting the short end of the stick, until roughly 1970. That wasn't long ago. And it was not too long ago that blacks were denied access to the University of South Carolina Law School.

Blacks have a lot of ground to make up. But in a state that has produced both a black and a female Supreme Court chief justice, more can be done in the selection process to see that the bench more clearly represents the diversity of the state.

A number of suggestions have been made in recent years. Chief Justice Jean Toal should see that all suggestions are kept before the legislature, and the General Assembly needs to act on them.