COLUMBIA--The S.C. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Gov. Mark Sanford can continue serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
In a unanimous decision, the court found the governor's service in the Reserves fit the definition of "citizen soldier" and was in no way a violation of the state constitution's dual-office-holder clause.
"The framers of the 1778 Constitution could not have specifically envisioned the 'militia' would consist of the Air Force Reserve, which was officially designated in 1948," wrote Justice E.C. Burnett in the decision.
"We believe the history of South Carolina militia, a fighting force, which has consisted of the citizen-soldier, encompasses the Air Force Reserve."
In a statement, Sanford said he was grateful to the court for its decision, both on a personal and professional level.
"I've always viewed this decision as much bigger than me, and I hope the court's ruling will help open the door to other folks in elected office who might want to be a part of the reserves," he said.
James Carpenter, attorney for Edward Sloan Jr., the man who brought the case before the court, said the decision was disappointing.
"The main thing they don't deal with is his role as commander-in-chief of the state militia," Carpenter said. "Can you be a lieutenant in one army and a commander-in-chief of the other?"
Sanford, who was promoted in January, is a captain in the Reserve. As governor, when needed, he can assume control of the S.C. National Guard, as well.
Carpenter said his client's only recourse now is to petition the court to alter or amend its decision.
"I don't think the U.S. Supreme Court would be appropriate for interpreting the S.C. Constitution," he said.
Sloan, a retired Greenville construction company owner and self-described government watchdog, filed a petition to the state Supreme Court last year without seeking lower court rulings. The high court accepted the case under its "original jurisdiction" power, which allows for first-time review of strictly constitutional questions.
Sloan believed Sanford's status in the Reserve violated the state constitution, which reads in part, "No person while governor shall hold any office or other commission (except in the militia) under the authority of this state, or of any other power."
Sanford maintained that the reserves were a form of militia, an opinion upheld Monday.
It took the court a little more than two months to deliver its verdict. In the written argument, Burnett pointed to the historical origins of the militia, dating as far back as King Alfred the Great, the British ruler of the late 9th century.
He also outlined the issues surrounding the state's dual-office-holder clause, a provision intended to protect the state from royal governors who maintained some loyalty to the British crown.
"The framers of South Carolina's early constitutions minimized the governor's potential corruption and disloyalty to the state by preventing dual office-holding on the part of the governor," Burnett wrote. "However, the framers, realizing temporary military would not subvert the governors' obligations to the state, did not restrict such service by the governors. Likewise, we do not believe the governor's service in the Air Force Reserve today impinges on his allegiance to South Carolina."
Sanford is not the first governor to hold a position in the Reserves during his tenure. James Cross, an archivist with the Strom Thurmond Institute, said Thurmond was a member of the U.S. Army Reserve during his stint as governor.
