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Donald Beatty
Donald Beatty was a judge of the South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice. He assumed office on January 1, 2017. He left office on July 30, 2024.
In South Carolina, the position of chief justice is a specific seat on the court (similar to the Supreme Court of the United States) rather than a peer-selected leadership position. Beatty was elected to the position of chief justice by the South Carolina General Assembly in May 2016. Beatty was the second black state supreme court chief justice elected in South Carolina since Reconstruction, following former Chief Justice Ernest A. Finney, Jr.[1]
Beatty first became a member of the court through legislative election. He was elected to the court by the South Carolina General Assembly in May 2007.[1] To read more about judicial selection in South Carolina, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[2] Beatty received a confidence score of Indeterminate.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Beatty retired on July 31, 2024. To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Biography
Beatty received his undergraduate degree from South Carolina State University and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.[4] After graduating from law school Beatty worked with the Neighborhood Legal Assistance Program, and later worked in private practice. While practicing law, he served on the Spartanburg City Council and then as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Beatty was elected to the Circuit Court in 1995. In 2003, he joined the South Carolina Court of Appeals, where he served until he joined the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2007.[1] The state legislature named him the new chief justice on May 25, 2016, succeeding retired Chief Justice Costa Pleicones for a term that began in 2017.[5][6] South Carolina chief justices are selected to serve ten-year terms, but because Beatty reached the retirement age of 72 in 2024 he was required to retire by the end of that year.
On February 25, 2016, Beatty was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.[7] Beatty's nomination was returned to President Obama at the sine die adjournment of the 114th Congress on January 3, 2017.[8]
Beatty received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from South Carolina State University, a Profile in Leadership Award from Benedict College, and a Living Legend Award from the NAACP. He was also a member of the Committee to Review South Carolina Drug and Common Laws.[1]
Elections
- See also: Legislative election
Justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court are chosen by the South Carolina General Assembly from a list of names provided by a nominating commission. Although official sources use the term election to describe this process, because it does not involve voters casting ballots in an open election, Ballotpedia considers this process an appointment.
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| Nominee Information |
| Name: Donald Beatty |
| Court: United States District Court for the District of South Carolina |
| Progress |
| Returned 313 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: February 25, 2016
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| ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
 Hearing:
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| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported:
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| Confirmed:
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| Returned: January 3, 2017
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2016
On February 25, 2016, Beatty was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.[7]
Obama commented on the nomination, stating, "I am honored to put forward these highly qualified candidates for the federal bench. They will be distinguished public servants and valuable additions to the United States District Court."[9]
On January 3, 2017, Beatty's nomination was returned to President Obama at the sine die adjournment of the 114th Congress.[8]
2007
Beatty was appointed to the South Carolina Supreme Court by a vote of the South Carolina General Assembly in May 2007.[1]
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[10]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[11]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Donald
Beatty
South Carolina
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Indeterminate - Judicial Selection Method:
Direct legislative appointment - Key Factors:
- Held political office as a Democrat
- Was a registered Democrat before 2020
- Appointed by a Republican legislature
Partisan Profile
Details:
Beaty was a Democratic state representative in the South Carolina State House of Representatives from 1990-1995. During that time he was a registered Democrat. He was appointed by a Republican controlled legislature. When he was appointed to the state supreme court, the state of South Carolina was a Republican trifecta.
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
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.
Beatty received a campaign finance score of 0.68, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative 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.[12]
Noteworthy cases
Order suspending evictions (2020)
On March 17, 2020, Chief Justice Donald Beatty ordered a suspension of all eviction proceedings. Beatty's original order applied to evictions scheduled between March 17, 2020, and March 31, 2020. He subsequently extended the order to apply to all eviction and foreclosure proceedings through May 15, 2020, at which time the suspension was allowed to expire.[13][14][15]
State supreme court judicial selection in South Carolina
- See also: Judicial selection in South Carolina
The five justices on the supreme court are appointed by the South Carolina Legislature to serve on the bench. The South Carolina Judicial Merit Selection Commission screens and selects candidates for judgeships and then submits a list of three names to the General Assembly, who vote to confirm judicial nominees by a majority vote.[16][17]
Supreme court justices serve 10-year terms. Upon finishing their terms, judges are subject to re-election by the legislature.[17]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- between the ages of 32 and 72*;
- a resident of the state for at least five years; and
- licensed as an attorney for at least eight years.[17]
*A judge who reaches the age of 72 in office must retire by the end of that calendar year.[18]
Chief justice
The supreme court chooses its chief justice by the same legislative election process used to select other judges. The chief serves in that capacity for ten years.[17]
Vacancies
If a judge leaves office before the end of his or her term, the vacancy is usually filled by legislative election. The appointee serves until the end of his or her predecessor's unexpired term, at which point he must be re-elected by the South Carolina General Assembly to remain on the court. If less than a year remains in an unexpired term, the governor has the option to appoint someone to the unexpired term instead.[17]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 South Carolina Supreme Court, "Justice Donald Beatty," accessed July 15, 2021
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Justice Donald Beatty (SC)," accessed July 16, 2021
- ↑ ABC Columbia, "Beatty Becomes South Carolina’s 2nd Black Chief Justice," May 25, 2016
- ↑ The Post and Courier, "Donald Beatty to run unopposed for S.C. chief justice," archived June 28, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Whitehouse.gov, "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate," February 25, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 United States Congress, "PN 1184 — Donald W. Beatty — The Judiciary," accessed January 3, 2017
- ↑ Whitehouse.gov, "President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the United States District Court," February 25, 2016
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ Supreme Court of South Carolina, "Re: Statewide Evictions," March 17, 2020
- ↑ Supreme Court of South Carolina, "Re: Statewide Evictions and Foreclosures," March 18, 2020
- ↑ The State, "Stay on evictions in SC set to end Friday. Housing attorneys have concerns," May 14, 2020
- ↑ Albany Law Review, "The Untouchables: The Impact of South Carolina's New Judicial Selection System on the South Carolina Supreme Court, 1997-2003," June 30, 2004
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedSCgeneral - ↑ The South Carolina Office of the Attorney General, "To the Honorable Victor A. Rawl," June 7, 2004
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
