COLUMBIA - A lawsuit against the panel that nominates candidates to be judges has been thrown out as the judge in the case says it should go immediately to the state Supreme Court.

Circuit Judge Ernest Kinard said lawyers on both sides of the case need to move quickly to get it considered by the high court before Carmen Tevis Mullen is sworn in as a judge in July.

The lawsuit, filed in February by Hilton Head Island lawyer Jim Herring and the South Carolina Public Interest Foundation, alleges the Judicial Merit Selection Commission failed to properly screen Mullen.

The lawsuit claims she was nominated to replace Judge Jackson Gregory despite concerns about whether she actually lived and worked in the circuit.

Rep. Thayer Rivers Jr., D- Ridgeland, had said he hoped the lawsuit would help forward legislation to change the way the General Assembly elects judges.

Some say the process of having the commission forward three names to the Legislature for voting hurts blacks. Just a handful of South Carolina's 100-plus judges are black.

James Carpenter, the attorney representing Herring and the foundation, said he thinks he will be able to file the case with the Supreme Court before the swearing-in this summer.

But there is no guarantee the court will take up the case.

Kinard rejected claims by lawyers for the commission that the plaintiffs didn't have standing, but he dismissed the case based on other claims. Kinard said the fact that the lawsuit targets the judicial selection process strengthens the case.

Mullen has said the case was baseless.

Kinard noted that if the case does go forward, it would be unlikely that Mullen could serve as a judge. He said the state Supreme Court could postpone her swearing-in.