SC Supreme Court candidates narrowed. How much diversity do 3 finalists bring?

The South Carolina Supreme Court is headed toward an all-white, all-male body from the Upstate, lacking racial, gender and geographical diversity. But a seat that’ll soon be vacated by Associate Justice John Kittredge could change that.

As Kittredge was recently elected to replace Chief Justice Don Beatty beginning this summer, the Judicial Merit Selection Commission on Thursday narrowed six candidates to fill his seat down to three, including two females — one Black with a recognizable name — and a white male, from different regions in the state.

The lack of racial, gender and geographical diversity on the state’s high court is a political and social issue in South Carolina. No women currently serve on the bench, and its only Black justice, Beatty, is set to retire to this summer. The rest of its white, male jurists hail from Greenville area.

The JMSC vets candidates based on ballot box surveys (submitted by members of the South Carolina Bar), application materials, verification of compliance with state ethics laws, search of newspaper articles in which their name appears, a study of previous screenings and a check for economic conflicts of interest.

After a second set of interviewees before the JMSC on Thursday, three candidates were eliminated, including Administrative Law Court Judge Ralph Anderson, and Circuit Court judges Deadra Jefferson and Keith Kelly.

In the running are Court of Appeals judges Blake Hewitt and Letitia Verdin, and Circuit Court Judge Jocelyn Newman.

Blake Hewitt

At 46, Hewitt, a white man, is the youngest candidate vying for the high court, and has served on the South Carolina Court of Appeals since 2020.

A former law clerk to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal, Hewitt worked for 10 years as an appellate lawyer before reaching the bench.

He’s well liked and respected within the legal community, where his colleagues praise his diligence, legal research and courtesy in and out of the courtroom, according to a number of surveys submitted to the JMSC by members of the South Carolina Bar.

But Hewitt’s Achilles’ heel centers around his age and lack of experience, prompting panel members to question whether his run for the Supreme Court is premature.

“I hope that what my resume shows is a breadth of experience, and I hope that would be helpful because we do get all kinds of cases that run the gamut on the Court of Appeals,” Hewitt said. “The fact that I touch a lot of different (legal issues) on a regular basis would be helpful to my service (at the Supreme Court.)“

Among the candidates, Hewitt is the only one to have served exclusively on the Court of Appeals following private practice as an appellate attorney.

But as a white male from the Greenville, he won’t offer the Supreme Court any degree of diversity.

Jocelyn Newman

From Richland County, Newman, a Black woman, and daughter to retired Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman, was elected a Circuit Court judge in 2016. Previously, she served as law clerk for now-retired Circuit Court Judge Thomas Cooper Jr., before working as an assistant solicitor for the Fifth Judicial Circuit and entering private practice.

Among the candidates, Newman was the only one to have her candidacy challenged by a person, Rhona Meisner, who claimed that Newman was “corrupt” after she made a comment in jest to a lawyer appearing on a virtual hearing, where Meisner was a civil defendant.

Meisner testified before the JMSC that Newman’s remarks equated to ex parte communications in violation of judicial cannons. She also challenged Newman’s reluctance to grant a continuance following Meisner’s request to leave town for a business meeting.

“There was no intervening fact from Judge Newman saying, ‘that was good. You did good,’ or words to that effect, and the attorney subsequently saying, ‘right, right.’ Well, that right is wrong. We cannot have that sort of backdoor communication, particularly in our Supreme Court,” Meisner said.

But members of the JMSC appeared to disregard the complaint and proceeded to advise Newman to refrain, in the future, from making such comments, as light hearted as they may have been, and to consider revising her policy on issuing orders of protection relating to continuances.

“I regret the comment because obviously it gave Ms. Meisner and maybe others reason to question the integrity of the process,” Newman said. “In general, regarding protection for vacation times and things like that, the very reason that I do not grant blanket protection for people taking vacations or going to conferences is because that, in itself, is an ex parte process.”

Letitia Verdin

Verdin, a white woman, was elected to the Family Court as a resident judge in the 13th Judicial Circuit in 2008. In 2011, she was elected to the Circuit Court and then to the Court of Appeals in 2023. Prior to that she worked as an assistant solicitor.

Verdin is the only candidate to have a range of experience, serving on the Family, Circuit and Court of Appeals.

Like Hewitt, she is well regarding among the legal community, and was praised by the JMSC for her polite judicial temperament.

“In a state full of talented, intelligent, capable judges and justices, Judge Verdin is the finest jurist South Carolina has to offer,” the JMSC said of ballot box surveys submitted in her favor.

The state legislature will convene at noon on Wednesday, June 5 to elect a candidate.