Costa Pleicones
Costa M. Pleicones was the chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. He was named to the court by the South Carolina General Assembly and took the bench on February 9, 2000.
Pleicones was elected chief justice on May 27, 2015, replacing Jean Toal, who stepped down because she reached the mandatory retirement age of 72. He was sworn in as chief justice in January 2016.[1] Pleicones reached the mandatory retirement age in February 2016. He retired at the end of 2016.[2][3] He was succeeded as chief justice by Donald Beatty.
Education
Pleicones received his B.A. in English from Wofford College in 1965 and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1968.[4]
Military service
Pleicones was a member of the U.S. Army, which he joined in 1968. He was both an enlisted member and officer in the Judge Advocate's General Corps. In 1973, he entered the Reserves, from which he retired in 1999.[2]
Career
After active duty, Pleicones served as a public defender for Richland county. He went into private practice, but during that time was a part-time municipal judge in Columbia and county attorney for Richland County. He joined 5th Circuit Court in 1991 and served in that capacity until elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court.[2]
Awards and associations
- Chair, Circuit Court (General Sessions) Committee of the Docket Management Task Force, 2011[5]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Pleicones received a campaign finance score of -0.54, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of 0.47 that justices received in South Carolina.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[6]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Pleicones was born in Greenville, S.C., and raised in Columbia, S.C.[3]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Costa Pleicones South Carolina Supreme Court. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- South Carolina Supreme Court, "Justice Costa M. Pleicones"
- Project Vote Smart, "Justice Costa M. Pleicones (SC)"
- The State, "S.C. high court orders Sanford to accept money," June 5, 2009
Footnotes
- ↑ GoUpstate.com, "Pleicones being sworn in to lead South Carolina's top court," January 7, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 South Carolina Supreme Court, "Justice Costa M. Pleicones," accessed August 12, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Maya T. Prabhu, The Post and Courier, "Costa Pleicones ascends to chief justice in final year on high court," December 31, 2015
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Justice Costa M. Pleicones (SC)"
- ↑ South Carolina Judicial Department, "Docket Management Task Force," February 18, 2011
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of South Carolina • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of South Carolina
State courts:
South Carolina Supreme Court • South Carolina Court of Appeals • South Carolina Circuit Courts • South Carolina Masters-in-Equity • South Carolina Family Courts • South Carolina Magistrate Courts • South Carolina Municipal Courts • South Carolina Probate Courts
State resources:
Courts in South Carolina • South Carolina judicial elections • Judicial selection in South Carolina
