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South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Beatty vacancy (July 2024)
| South Carolina Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Beatty vacancy |
| Date: July 31, 2024 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: John Kittredge |
| Date: March 6, 2024 |
The South Carolina State Legislature elected Justice John Kittredge to succeed succeeded outgoing Chief Justice Donald Beatty when he retired on July 31, 2024. Kittredge has served on the South Carolina Supreme Court since 2008 as an associate justice. Chief Justice Beatty retired due to reaching South Carolina's mandatory retirement age. Beatty's replacement was chosen by a Republican-controlled legislature.[1]
In South Carolina, state supreme court justices are selected through direct legislative appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the state legislature. There are two states that use this selection method. To read more about the legislative appointment of judges, click here.
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.[2]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the South Carolina Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2024.
The appointee
- See also: South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Kittredge vacancy (July 2024)
- See also: John Kittredge
Kittredge received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina in 1979 and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1982.[3]
After graduating from law school Kittredge clerked for William W. Wilkins, Jr., he then entered private practice. He was elected to the Family Court in 1991. In 1996, he joined the Circuit Court, where he served until his election to the South Carolina Court of Appeals in 2003. Kittredge was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2008.[4]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in South Carolina
In South Carolina, state supreme court justices are selected through direct legislative appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the state legislature. There are two states that use this selection method. To read more about the legislative appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: South Carolina Supreme Court
Justices
Following Beatty's retirement, the South Carolina Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ John C. Few | Appointed by South Carolina State Legislature in 2016 | |
| ■ D. Garrison Hill | Appointed by South Carolina State Legislature in 2023 | |
| ■ George C. James, Jr. | Appointed by South Carolina State Legislature in 2017, and re-appointed in 2020 |
About the court
Founded in 1895, the South Carolina Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is John Kittredge.
In South Carolina, state supreme court justices are selected through direct legislative appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the state legislature. There are two states that use this selection method. To read more about the legislative appointment of judges, click here.
As of August 2024, all five judges on the court were appointed by the South Carolina State Legislature.
The South Carolina Supreme Court meets in Columbia, South Carolina.[5]
About Chief Justice Beatty
- See also: Donald Beatty
Beatty received his undergraduate degree from South Carolina State University and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.[6] 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.[4] 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.[7][8] 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.[9] Beatty's nomination was returned to President Obama at the sine die adjournment of the 114th Congress on January 3, 2017.[10]
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.[4]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2024
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2024
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2024. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2023.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ WLTX, "John Kittredge elected as next SC Supreme Court chief justice," March 6, 2024
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedSCgeneral - ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Justice John W. Kittredge," accessed July 15, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ South Carolina Judicial Department, "Supreme Court History," accessed August 25, 2021
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Whitehouse.gov, "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate," February 25, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 1184 — Donald W. Beatty — The Judiciary," accessed January 3, 2017
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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
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