Two candidates remain in the running for South Carolina’s Supreme Court, Judge Blake Hewitt, left and Judge Letitia Verdin, right. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — South Carolina is expected to have an all-white Supreme Court after the lone Black finalist withdrew Tuesday, but it’s unlikely to remain all male.
Circuit Court Judge Jocelyn Newman, of Columbia, submitted a letter pulling out of the race just eight days before the state General Assembly is scheduled to hold an election for the open seat created by the retirement of Chief Justice Don Beatty, legislative staff confirmed.
It appears that Judge Letitia Verdin, of Greenville, has locked up more than enough votes necessary to win.
She had more than 100 commitments from South Carolina’s 170 legislators heading into the long holiday weekend, said Rep. Jason Elliott, R-Greenville, her chief vote-counter for the contest.
And with Newman bowing out, Verdin is certain to pick up more votes.
Newman, the daughter of recently retired Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman, was the only candidate of color advanced to the full Legislature for a vote June 5. (By law, the judicial screening panel can forward a maximum of three qualified candidates. The other Black female judge who applied was not among the three.)
Newman has been on the bench for eight years. Her withdrawal will likely make South Carolina the 19th state in the country with an all-white high court, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
2 women, 1 man among finalists for SC Supreme Court
Verdin’s likely election would add gender diversity to the nation’s only all-male state high court.
Judge Blake Hewitt, of Conway, is the other remaining candidate. He was first elected in 2019 after years as an appellate lawyer
Both Verdin, 53, and Hewitt, 45, sit on the state’s Court of Appeals.
Rep. Ivory Thigpen, who chairs the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, lamented there no longer being a candidate of color in the running but said the caucus holds out hope that a female candidate remains.
Who lawmakers choose will shape the look of the state’s highest court for some time. A seat isn’t likely to come available for more than four years. That’s when Justice John Kittredge, who will become chief justice this summer, ages out. (State law requires judges to retire from full-time work by Dec. 31 of the year they turn 72.)
Beatty, a former legislator from Spartanburg and the only Black member of the court, is retiring when his term ends this summer. He turned 72 in April.
For South Carolinians to hold trust in the state’s courts, Thigpen said, it takes a diverse judiciary that reflects the population it serves. If lawmakers were to elect and all-white male high court, it could run the risk of people losing hope and faith in the judicial system, he said.
“This is a tipping point, a litmus test for our General Assembly,” the Columbia Democrat told the SC Daily Gazette. “And I think we will rise to the occasion.”
South Carolina is one of only two states where the Legislature elects nearly all judges. Virginia is the other.
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The election of a new justice comes as South Carolina’s judiciary has been under intense scrutiny after an all-male court upheld a state law that bans abortions around six weeks into pregnancy.
The court, in a 3-2 decision in early January 2023, had thrown out an earlier version of the so-called “fetal heartbeat” law as violating the state constitution’s protection from unreasonable invasions of privacy. At that time, there was one woman on the court, Justice Kaye Hearn, who wrote the majority opinion that was blasted by GOP lawmakers as judicial activism. It was her last opinion before she retired.
Hearn’s replacement, Justice Gary Hill, was elected after two female judges dropped out of the race before the Legislature voted.
Thigpen advocated for Verdin’s selection when the Legislature returns to Columbia June 5 to hold the state Supreme Court election.
Having served at the family, circuit and appeals court levels, Verdin brings not only gender diversity but a range of experience, even though her stint on the state Appeals Court was short, Thigpen said.
SC abortion law can stand at 6 weeks of pregnancy, judge rules
He also said the Supreme Court race underscores the importance of having a pipeline of diverse candidates at all levels of the court system. The state’s Appeals Court is made up of four white female judges, one Black male, and four white males.
Because both remaining Supreme Court candidates serve at the appellate level, Thigpen said it could create an opening for more racial diversity on the Appeals Court.
“Diversity still remains a challenge for our judicial bench,” he said. “I know diversity and inclusion have become political buzzwords but the reality is it’s what makes us who we are.”
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