True reform? S.C. justices say they won't investigate each other

 Online disciplinary orders show no one on the five-member Supreme Court or the nine-member S.C. Court of Appeals - the state's second-highest court - received any public sanctions during the period.

Of the total 90 complaints filed against appellate judges, 15 complaints were received in fiscal 2023 - the highest number since fiscal 2008 - though the annual disciplinary reports don't specify whether the accused judges were Supreme Court or Court of Appeals members or give any specifics of the allegations.

Under court rules, the Supreme Court has final say on disciplining any judge under its jurisdiction.

The Nerve in 2010 revealed that the Supreme Court then had rejected a recommendation by the American Bar Association to create a special, outside court to handle ethics charges against sitting Supreme Court justices.

"In the judgment of this Court, it is inappropriate for the ODC to handle complaints of ethical misconduct or incapacity against sitting Justices on the Supreme Court," according to the order.

Any hearing on ethical misconduct by a Supreme Court justice could still be handled by a panel of the 26-member Commission of Judicial Conduct, which is appointed by the high court and made up mainly of lower-court judges.

Kittredge, a former family, circuit and Court of Appeals judge who was first elected to the Supreme Court in 2008, didn't respond to The Nerve by publication of this story.

Toal retired from the Supreme Court in 2015 but subsequently has served as a special, part-time circuit court judge.

The public usually has no way of evaluating whether dismissed complaints were valid or spotting trends with particular judges because of court secrecy rules that prohibit court staff from releasing complaints unless formal ethics charges are filed.

A total of 28 complaints were filed against appellate judges during the period, though no Court of Appeals judges or Supreme Court justices received any public sanctions, according to records.

In its Aug. 1 order creating a special committee to investigate complaints against Supreme Court justices, the high court described the five-member panel as "Experienced and highly qualified members of the Bar," which is the state's professional organization for lawyers.

https://www.thenerve.org/true_reform_s_c_justices_say_they_won_t_investigate_each_other