Your SC politics briefing
Good morning, and welcome to your weekly South Carolina politics briefing, a newsletter curated by The State’s politics and government team.
Following years of calls for judicial reform in South Carolina, particularly in the way state judges are elected, advocates for change appeared to gain momentum this week with the firing of Circuit Judge Bentley Price of Charleston.
Price, who has increasingly been accused of questionable judgments in favor of defendants charged with violent crimes, was found unqualified by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission Tuesday in a 5-5 split vote.
Although a member of the JMSC emphasized that the commission’s decision was based entirely on testimony received — whether favorable or not — during Price’s rescreening interview, the move follows mounting criticisms about Price’s judicial temperament and leniency toward criminal defendants charged with violent crimes.
The vote also comes after a report by Price’s peers via the South Carolina Bar Association that also concluded Price was unqualified to serve based on reputation.
Price’s ouster comes amid ongoing calls for a change in the way state judges are selected in South Carolina and also for greater checks and balances on lawyer-legislators serving on the JMSC, who some say have improperly leveraged their positions to secure favorable rulings for their clients while advocating for or against judicial candidates with whom they may or may not like.
In his bid to retain his seat, Price was challenged by Charleston-area attorney Brent Halverson, who also was deemed unqualified by the JMSC. Accordingly, Price’s seat in the 9th Circuit, which consists of Charleston and Berkeley counties, will become vacant upon the expiration of his term on June 30, 2024.
(Photo via Jake Shore)
Potential SC teacher pay bump comes with more training
South Carolina Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver is asking lawmakers to increase the state’s minimum teachers’ salary schedule by $1,500 for all teachers.
She’s also pushing for an additional $1,500 pay bump if a school district provides an additional five days of paid high-quality professional learning. This would increase teachers’ contracts to 195 days from 190 days, according to the Palmetto State Teachers Association.
A lone $1,500 increase would bring the minimum starting salary for teachers in the state to $44,000 up from $42,500. With both $1,500 increases would bring the state minimum starting pay to $45,500.
“Superintendent Weaver has heard from district leaders about their need for more paid professional development time,” Laura Bayne, the deputy superintendent of strategic engagement for the Department of Education, wrote in an email. “In some cases, teachers are asked to use their personal time to attend professional development. We propose to ensure teachers are treated as the professionals they are and are paid for their time participating in these important opportunities.”
If both parts of Weaver’s plan were adopted by lawmakers, it would mean the state would increase its annual state aid to classrooms by $272 million, which would account for 40% of the new annual dollars expected to be available for budget writers when they begin budget discussions during the upcoming legislative session.
(Photo via The Sun News’ Joseph Hughes)
2024 Bites
▪ NBC News: Nikki Haley’s home-state strategy faces a hitch: South Carolina is Trump country
▪ The State: SC’s Nikki Haley endorsed by Koch brothers-backed group for GOP nomination
▪ The State: Nikki Haley’s kids appear in rare interview. How do they feel about politics and mom’s campaign?
▪ The Associated Press: Haley and DeSantis are relying more on outside campaign groups with time running out to stop Trump
▪ CBS News: A growing series of alarms blaring in federal courtrooms, less than a year before 2024 presidential election
▪ The Associated Press: Many voters are weary about a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024. Third parties hope they can fill the gap
▪ The Hill: Trump widens lead over DeSantis in new national poll
Buzz Bites
▪ Jason Raven last day as a State House reporter for WSPA was Thursday. He is joining the South Carolina Department of Education as a spokesman.
▪ Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley held a town hall rally in Bluffton Monday in front of a capacity crowd of more than one thousand supporters. She focused her remarks on inflation, education, national security and made her case why she’s a tougher opponent for President Biden than former President Trump.
▪ A state lawmaker wants South Carolina to regulate and tax Delta-8 THC hemp products, and a hemp lawyer thinks it’s not a bad idea.
Mark your calendar
Dec. 1
DeSantis holds town hall in Prosperity
Dec. 5
Child Food and Nutrition Services Study Committee
Dec. 7
Certificate of Need Rural Health Care Study Committee
Dec. 7-10
First in the South Republican Action Conference in Myrtle Beach
Jan. 9, 2024
State legislative session begins
Jan. 15, 2024
Iowa GOP Caucus
Jan. 23, 2024
New Hampshire Primary
Feb. 3, 2024
S.C. Democratic Party Presidential Primary
Feb. 6, 2024
Nevada Presidential Primary
Feb. 8, 2024
Nevada GOP Caucus
Feb. 24, 2024
S.C. GOP Presidential Primary
Before we adjourn
With the recent creation of the special House committee on judicial reform, coupled with the Judicial Merit Selection Commission’s final round of judicial candidates interviews, discussions surrounding the process used in selecting judges in South Carolina continue to percolate.
Naturally, as they’re always at least two sides to every debate, some lawmakers disagree with those pushing for change, who say a revamp to the state’s judicial selection process is critically necessary in light of a public perception of unfairness that’s denigrating the integrity of the judiciary.
Examples of some of the improprieties argued, so far, by S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson and Solicitors David Pascoe and Kevin Brackett, feature a select group of lawyer-legislators appearing to use their position to leverage favoritism with judges in their capacity as practicing attorneys.
Some of these lawyer-legislators have criticized The State’s coverage of ongoing revelations tethered to judicial reform — whether directly or indirectly — including most recently the firing of Judge Bentley Price.
In having spoken to many players in the conversation, and in light of frustrations shared with me about our coverage on the issue, I’d like to emphasize that it’s the appearance of undue influence by lawyer legislators over judges that officials like Wilson, Pascoe and even S.C. Supreme Court Justice John Kittredge have argued to be the fundamental problem.
It is the appearance — whether real or not — that special House committee Chair Tommy Pope and others have endorsed in saying, “for the system to be right, it must look right.”
Still, some legislators are pressed to see evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, when essentially all of the alleged conversations in question took place behind closed doors, or at least off the record.
Indeed, multiple questionable exchanges and interactions between lawyer-legislators and judges have been collectively asserted between Brackett, Pascoe and Wilson in their testimony before lawmakers.
Again, it’s the appearance of these instances of shady dealings that some say have deteriorated the public’s trust toward the functioning of an equitable judiciary in South Carolina.
As a journalist, it’s my job to objectively report the facts, regardless of how unsettling those facts might be. Of course, this includes facts that may appear to suggest misconduct.
In doing so, it’s my hope that readers, like you, will take the facts as reported and form your own conclusions, whether on abortion access, gun rights or judicial reform.
Thank you for supporting our work at The State newspaper.
Pulling the newsletter together this week was Javon L. Harris, reporter on the The State’s politics and state government team. You can keep up with him and send him tips on the social media platform formally known as Twitter at @JavonLHarris_JD or by email jaharris@thestate.com
To stay on top of South Carolina politics and election news, you can chat with us on Facebook, email us tips and follow our stories at scpolitics.com.
