SPECIAL SESSION: Greenville County woman elected to SC Supreme Court by General Assembly

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — The nation’s only all-male state supreme court is now no more.

South Carolina becomes the 19th state with all white justices after lawmakers elected Greenville judge Letitia Verdin to the high court. She currently serves on the state Court of Appeals and has more than 15 years of experience serving on state courts. 

“I know it’s going to be a lot of work and I’m excited to get in there and start working in August,” said Verdin.

Wednesday afternoon, South Carolina’s General Assembly elected Judge Letitia Verdin to the state supreme court.

“I’m a fair judge who believes in serving all persons in South Carolina,” said the USC law school gradaute. “I hope that’s what my reputation is and hope to continue that.”

Republican Senator Tom Davis says he supports the election of the new justice.

“I sat down and had a good meeting with her,” the senator said. “She has a distinguished record on the court of appeals and she’s very intelligent. Let’s be honest, I think it’s important that a woman serves on the state supreme court.”

While South Carolina now longer has the nation’s only all-male supreme court, it does join 18 other states in having all-white justices with the retirement of Chief Justice Don Beatty.

“We’re going to have people in position of power and influence to use their pulpit to talk about how sad it is in South Carolina where the courts are not representative of the state,” said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a Democrat from Orangeburg.

No bills were discussed on Wednesday but lawmakers will be back June 18th with plenty of unfinished business, including the restructuring of several of the state’s health agencies.

“We got people in South Carolina with disabilities, special needs, mental health issues, substance abuse and dementia who are not getting the care the way they deserve to,” Davis said. “We have four agencies that overlap and compete with each other for legislative money. It’s a very inefficient way to deliver services to a population who truly needs it.”

Davis also says that the budget needs to be passed and approves of many of the items in the Senate’s version.

“Classroom teacher salaries, law enforcement salaries, roads and bridges, and cutting taxes, which we did again this year,” Davis said.

One thing however that did not get done this year is the legalization of medical marijuana, which is a bill the senator from Beaufort has been behind for years.

“I’ll keep bringing it up until it gets passed,” Davis said. “It’s something that 75 percent of South Carolinians want. Thirty-nine states have passed it. Doctors want to give it to patients. There’s not reason for politicians to stand in the way of what a doctor thinks is in the patient’s best interest.” 

After Verdin’s election, 4 of the 5 state supreme court members reside in the Upstate. Justice George James, who lives in Sumter, is the lone justice who does not reside in that region.

Earlier this year, the General Assembly elected John Kittridge to fill the chief justice position vacated by Beatty.