“THIS BILL FINISHES THE JOB WE STARTED”
Every South Carolinian deserves equal justice under the law but the way judges are chosen in our state undermines that promise. I’ve been fighting to fix it for years.
As a leader of the last major JMSC reform bill, I’m proud of the progress we made, but I’ve also said from day one it didn’t go far enough. We still have lawyer-legislators hand-picking judges they later appear before in court. That’s a system designed for insiders, not citizens.
This new legislation finally finishes the job. It ends legislative control of the JMSC once and for all and restores the balance of power our Founders intended.
I’m grateful to Speaker Murrell Smith for his leadership and to Rom Reddy and DOGESC for pushing this fight across the finish line. Reforming our judiciary is not a partisan issue. It’s about trust, accountability and fairness.
We’ve taken important first steps in the past, but this bill represents the full reform South Carolinians deserve. I’m ready to work alongside the House and my colleagues in the Senate to get it passed.”