SCFC Rejects 3 Judicial Nominees
JMSC Must Find Qualified, Constitutionalists to Sit on the Bench
Tomorrow, the General Assembly will be voting on judicial nominees. South Carolina’s judicial nominating process is a mess which we have fought to reform. In the current system, legislators pick the judges to sit on the bench which both violates the separation of powers and permits trial lawyers to choose the judges in front of whom they may try cases. The system is rife with conflicts of interest, back room deals, and is not reflective of the founders’ intention for the judicial branch.
This year, members of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus have identified three main candidates who we believe are unacceptable and should be rejected by the General Assembly.
Family Court: 15th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1, Bromell Holmes
Judge Holmes has had 19 ballot-box complaints filed against her by attorneys in the Georgetown and Horry communities. Additionally, individuals who went before her in court have filed complaints alleging judicial misconduct and mishandling custody cases. Based on the unprecedented number of ballot box complaints as well as the allegations from other individuals, we believe the Judicial Merit Selection Committee should find a new candidate to sit in this seat.
16th Judicial Circuit seat 2, Melissa Inzerillo
Per comments made by other trusted conservative legislators, Miss Inzerillo does not strongly support our men and women in blue. Furthermore, the circumstances in which the original candidates in this race decided to remove their names from consideration is suspect at best and appears to have been forced. For these reasons, we will vote no on her nomination.
16th Judicial Circuit At-large seat, Seat 15, Maite Murphy
Mrs. Murphy is the wife of a sitting legislator who is also a trial lawyer. He previously served as the chairman for the Judiciary Committee. Legislator’s immediate relatives should not serve as judges in our state, let alone when their spouse practices law as well.
The South Carolina Freedom Caucus will continue to fight for true judicial reform. The entire process by which candidates are nominated is tainted with conflicts of interest and severely lacks transparency. The committee to which prospective candidates must apply can enter into an executive session resulting in no livestream for the public to watch. Furthermore, trial lawyer legislators should not have the power to choose the judges in front of whom they try their cases. We cannot have true, equal justice in South Carolina until we reform this process.
Please, call your Representative and Senator, and ask them to vote no on the 3 candidates listed above. You can find your Representative and Senator’s contact info here.
For liberty,
The South Carolina Freedom Caucus