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Costa M. Pleicones | |
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Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court | |
In office January 1, 2016 –December 31, 2016 | |
Preceded by | Jean H. Toal |
Succeeded by | Donald W. Beatty |
Associate Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court | |
In office March 23,2000 –December 31,2015 | |
Preceded by | Jean H. Toal |
Succeeded by | John Cannon Few [1] |
Personal details | |
Born | Greenville,SC | February 29,1944
Alma mater | Wofford College (B.A.) University of South Carolina School of Law (J.D.) |
Costa M. Pleicones (born February 29,1944) is an American jurist who served as the chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. He has served on the court since being elected in February 2000 to replace Justice Toal (who assumed the chief justice position at that time). [2] He was sworn in on March 29,2000. [3] Before being elected to the court,his judicial experience included serving on the courts for the city of Columbia and as a Circuit Court Judge. On May 27,2015,Justice Pleicones was elected to replace Chief Justice Jean Toal. His term began January 1,2016,and his investiture as Chief Justice of South Carolina took place on January 7,2016. [4]
Justice Pleicones was born in Greenville and grew up in Columbia,South Carolina. He attended Wofford College and graduated with a degree in English in 1965. Prior to his election to the South Carolina judiciary Pleicones was active for more than thirty years in the United States Army Reserve where he served as an officer in the Judge Advocate's General Corps. The justice has also worked in private practice and as a public defender for Richland County.[ citation needed ]
A frequent lecturer,Costa Pleicones has been called upon by many professional organizations including CLE programs by the South Carolina Bar. He presently serves as a member of the Wofford College Board of Trustees.[ citation needed ]
Pleicones was born in South Carolina to Lecha and Mike Pleicones. [5] During his childhood,he developed a close friendship with his predecessor,Justice Jean Toal. [6] He comes from a Greek background and follows the Greek Orthodox faith. Pleicones is married and has two children. [7]
Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg,South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The 175-acre (71 ha) campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the American Civil War that still operates on its original campus.
Jean Hoefer Toal is a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. She was the first woman and the first Roman Catholic to serve as chief justice. In 2013,she became the first chief justice on the Supreme Court of South Carolina since the 1800s to run opposed in their reelection. Toal has continued to serve in the judiciary as a senior judge since her retirement from the Supreme Court.
The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law,also known as South Carolina Law School,is a professional school within the University of South Carolina. Founded in 1867,it is the only public and non-profit law school in South Carolina. It has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1925 and a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1924.
The Supreme Court of South Carolina is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a chief justice and four associate justices.
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John Cannon Few is a justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court,elected on February 3,2016,and sworn in on February 9,2016,to fill the position vacated by Costa M. Pleicones on his ascension to Chief Justice. Few is a graduate of Duke University,where he served as the athletic mascot,and the University of South Carolina School of Law,where he was a member of The Order of Wig and Robe and The Order of the Coif. He also served as Student Works Editor of the South Carolina Law Review.
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