Susie Marshall Sharp was an American jurist who served as the first female chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. She was not the first woman to head the highest court in a U.S. state,but is believed to be the first woman elected to such a post in a state,like North Carolina,in which the position is elected by the people separately from that of Associate Justice. In 1965,Lorna E. Lockwood became the first female chief justice of a state supreme court,but in Arizona,the Supreme Court justices elect their chief justice.
The Charleston School of Law is a private for-profit law school in Charleston,South Carolina. It was established in 2003 and accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) in August 2011. The school was founded upon a principle of promoting public service by its students and graduates;each student must perform at least 50 hours of public service before graduation. According to the school's 2021 ABA-required disclosures,85% of the Class of 2017 obtained full-time,long-term,JD-required employment nine months after graduation.
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.
The South Carolina Law Review is a student-edited law review that was established in 1937. It covers South Carolina law and commentary on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. It also publishes the winning essays from the Warren E. Burger Writing Competition,which is sponsored by the American Inns of Court Foundation. In 2008 the journal began to experiment with peer review.
Town of Mt. Pleasant v. Chimento was a South Carolina case that ruled that while poker was a game of skill,the Dominant Factor Test is not demonstrably a legal standard in South Carolina and thus poker is still subject to the laws related to gambling. The case was later appealed to a higher South Carolina district court where the Judge overturned the trial court's convictions,stating that Dominant Factor Test was the appropriate legal standard and therefore participating in a private home poker game is not illegal,nor is it gambling. The Judge further declared sections of the 207-year-old statute unconstitutionally vague and therefore void. In 2012,the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the statute and reinstated the convictions of the defendants.
Julianna Michelle Childs is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was previously a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina from 2010 to 2022 and a judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court from 2006 to 2010.
Costa M. Pleicones 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. He was sworn in on March 29,2000. 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.
Alan McCrory Wilson is an American lawyer,politician,and a member of the South Carolina National Guard serving as the 51st Attorney General of South Carolina since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Thomas Jonathan Ervin is an American attorney,former judge,one-time politician and former radio station owner. A past member of the Republican Party,he also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1979 through 1983. He had been running for Governor of South Carolina in the 2014 gubernatorial election as an Independent,but in late October he dropped out and endorsed Democratic nominee Vincent Sheheen.
Archie Lee Chandler was an associate justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. He attended The Citadel,but had to miss his senior year to join the military during World War II. He settled in Darlington,South Carolina to practice law,and was elected from there to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1972. In 1976,he was made a trial court judge,a position he held until being elevated to the South Carolina Supreme Court. He was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court in 1984 and became the chief justice in 1994. His election to be the new chief justice took place on February 23,1994. He was sworn in on June 22,1994.
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.
George C. James,Jr is an American lawyer and judge,who serves as a justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Richard A. Harpootlian is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the South Carolina Senate from the 20th district. He served as the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2013. He also previously served as solicitor for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of South Carolina from 1991 until 1995.
The Nukegate scandal was a political and legal scandal that arose from the abandonment of the Virgil C. Summer nuclear expansion project in South Carolina by South Carolina Electric &Gas (SCE&G) and the South Carolina Public Service Authority in 2017. It was the largest business failure in the history of South Carolina. Before its termination,the expansion was considered the harbinger of a national nuclear renaissance. Under joint ownership,the two utilities collectively invested $9 billion into the construction of two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County,South Carolina from 2008 until 2017. The utilities were able to fund the project by shifting the risk onto their customers using a state law that allowed utilities to raise consumers' electricity rates to pay for nuclear construction.
The Murdaugh family was an affluent American family that has lived in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina since the 18th century. Three generations named Randolph Murdaugh served consecutively as circuit solicitor for the state's 14th judicial district between 1920 and 2006;the family's status led locals to call the five-county district "Murdaugh Country". In 1910,Randolph Murdaugh Sr. founded the civil litigation firm that is now The Parker Law Group in Hampton,South Carolina,which now specializes in personal injury litigation.
Two justices of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and four judges of the fifteen-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 8,2022,concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. These elections were conducted on a partisan basis.
State of South Carolina v. Richard Alexander Murdaugh was the trial of American former lawyer Alex Murdaugh for the murder of his wife,Maggie,and their 22-year-old son,Paul,on June 7,2021. The trial in the fourteenth circuit of the South Carolina Circuit Court began on January 25,2023,and ended on March 2 with a guilty verdict on all four counts. Murdaugh,who had pleaded not guilty,was sentenced to two life sentences to run consecutively without the possibility of parole. Murdaugh's attorneys filed a notice of appeal,but a new judge rejected the bid for a new trial.
Clifton B. Newman is an American attorney and former at-large judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court. He served as a judge since his election by the state's general assembly in 2000. In 2021,he was reelected to a final fourth term and retired in December 2023. In his role as a circuit court judge he presided over several high profile trials,including the trials of Michael Slager,Nathaniel Rowland,and Alex Murdaugh.
