Friday, April 19, 2024
In a split 3-2 decision, the S.C. Supreme Court ruled the state was not providing necessary resources for a “minimally adequate” education in poorer school districts.
The ruling, filed November 12, 2014, ended a 21 year odyssey in a lawsuit initially brought November 2, 1993.
However, in ruling the state failed in meeting its constitutional duty to provide a “minimally adequate” education for all public school students, the court left remedies up to the parties of the lawsuit.
A legal system is only as good as the people charged with overseeing it. In South Carolina that is the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which operates under the auspices of the S.C. Supreme Court and its Chief Justice.
The S.C. Judicial Department apparently agrees. Consider this high sounding statement from the Judicial Department regarding the ODC:
“Regulating the conduct of both judges and lawyers is critical to preserving the integrity of the South Carolina judicial system and to instilling public confidence in the administration of justice. In South Carolina, the task of regulating both judges and lawyers falls to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel,…”
Grand Strand Daily and SC Hotline have joined forces to confirm that Chief Justice Jean Toal and Associate Justice Donald Beatty have recused themselves from the candidate filing case for the upcoming June 12th Republican and Democratic primaries.
The case is Michael Anderson and Robert Barber, Plaintiffs v. S.C. Election Commission, S.C. Republican Party, S.C. Democratic Party, et al.
Plaintiffs Anderson and Barber are seeking to stop the parties from certifying and the election commission from including on the June 12th primary ballot any candidate who did not strictly comply with state law by filing their Statement of Economic Interest form, with the S.C. Ethics Commission, at a different time from when their Statement of Intention of Candidacy was filed.
According to information from the Clerk of Court for the S.C. Supreme Court, Chief Justice Toal will be replaced on the bench by Justice G. Thomas Cooper, Jr. from the 5th Circuit Court while Justice Beatty will be replaced by former Supreme Court Associate Justice James Moore, who retired from the court in 2008.
The South Carolina Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a lawsuit brought by two Lexington County voters claiming several candidates did not properly file for office.
At issue is the Statement of Economic Interests which candidates were required to submit when they filed for office. The deadline for filing was noon March 30, 2012.
South Carolina Code of Laws Section 8-13-1356 (B) states, “A candidate must file a statement of economic interests for the preceding calendar year at the same time and with the same official with whom the candidate files a declaration of candidacy or petition for nomination.”
Speak Up…