Advocacy groups shouldn't control judicial selection process

Black lawmakers are acting in the state's best interest when they push for more black judges in the state, but it would be a mistake to turn the judicial selection process over to advocacy groups.

The South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus is justifiably concerned about the low number of black judges in the state. African-Americans make up almost a third of the state's population, but only about 6 percent of the state's judges.

These lawmakers want to change the process through which the General Assembly selects judges. Some of their ideas are worthwhile.

The Judicial Merit Selection Committee, which is appointed by legislative leaders, screens candidates for judicial seats and submits at most three nominees for each judicial position. The black caucus would abolish the three-candidate restriction, allowing more candidates to be considered by lawmakers.

Caucus members say the three-person limit eliminates black candidates who are qualified but don't make the commission's final cut.

Allowing lawmakers to consider more candidates may open the process and allow more black candidates to compete. But the caucus' plan to change the makeup of the commission should be thwarted.

The legislation proposed by the caucus would increase the commission from 10 to 11. One of those members would have to be chosen from a list submitted by the Legislative Black Caucus itself. And one would have to be chosen from a list supplied by the South Carolina Black Lawyers Association.

It's understandable why black lawmakers want to maximize their role in the judicial selection process, but it would be wrong to allow any group that does not represent all South Carolinians to have an official role in choosing judges.

Judges should be chosen in an open process by the representatives of all the people. No specific region, interest group or demographic subgroup should have more say than anyone else.

There should be black citizens included on the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, but they should be chosen by the elected representatives of the entire state and their chosen leaders, not by a coalition or selection of interest groups.

Black lawmakers should keep lobbying their colleagues to elect more black judges, but they should not try to take more authority over the selection process.

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