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Lloyd: Debate on bench diversity will help bring it about

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd says the state's judicial selection process ensures well-qualified judges are elected to the bench.

Increasing diversity among the state's judges is a separate issue, which requires getting more qualified black candidates to run and making legislators mindful of diversity as they vote. Lloyd said Tuesday.

The current debate on bench diversity will help accomplish that, he said.

"I think we need to be very careful about radically changing a good process," so it's not destroyed, said Lloyd, who earlier this year became the first black U.S. attorney in South Carolina's modern history to hold the position permanently. The U.S. Senate confirmed President Bush's nomination in February.

Lloyd quickly added he has no desire to advise state legislators on state law.

Legislators will elect a new judge May 24 to fill Lloyd's vacated seat. They will choose between three black candidates nominated by a judicial screening panel. It will mark the first time the General Assembly has elected a black judge in South Carolina since 2003, when Lloyd was approved as an at-large Circuit Court judge.

Many black lawmakers argue the system needs reformed to elect more black judges. Earlier this year, Gov. Mark Sanford in his State of the State address and Chief Justice Jean Toal in her State of the Judiciary speech called for more diversity on the bench.

In a letter to lawmakers in March, the two urged legislators to "make the principle of diversity an important consideration in any judicial elections that come before you this year and in the future."

Blacks make up 29.5 percent of the state's population, but just 6.1 percent of its trial judges, the letter said.

A reform proposal that passed the House last year would require the Judicial Merit Selection Commission send more qualified candidates forward for election, instead of the three-candidate cap. The Senate debated the measure last Thursday but did not vote. Senators pledged to study the issue over the fall and winter, before the 2007 session starts.

Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, called the measure a needed start. He agreed with Lloyd that wholesale changes are unwanted. He supports "little tweaks at a time," including a pay increase for judges.

An amendment he got through on the House bill would remove legislators' one-year moratorium before seeking a judge position. Current law requires they resign their seat and wait a year before applying.

That prevents qualified legislators from running because people don't know that far out when a seat will be vacated, said Rutherford, an attorney.

Lawmakers now must vote on candidates they don't know at all. Removing the moratorium would allow lawmakers to vote on a colleague whose positions and character they know, he said.

"Why are we cutting off access to those people?" Rutherford asked, adding he has no desire to be a judge.