{"id":4440,"date":"2026-08-08T18:48:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4440"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:48:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:48:59","slug":"four-declare-so-far-for-vacant-justice-seat-on-scs-supreme-court-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4440","title":{"rendered":"Four declare, so far, for vacant justice seat on SC\u2019s Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Four judges have  publicly acknowledged they will run for the prized vacant associate justice seat on the five-member S.C. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4439\">Rock Hill teen charged with murder after conspirator is killed in robbery<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The application process \u2014 handled by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission \u2014 opened  July 20 and will close at noon  Monday, Aug. 24.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The term is for 10 years and the associate justice pay is $233,606.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>So far, those who seeking the seat are Court of Appeals judges Blake Hewitt of Conway and John Geathers of the Blythewood area; Administrative Law Court Chief Judge Ralph King \u201cTripp\u201d Anderson III of Columbia; and Eighth Circuit Court Judge Eugene \u201cBubba\u201d Griffith of Newberry.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>One person whose name is not on the list is that of attorney and former S.C. House Speaker Jay Lucas, who ran last year against incumbent Supreme Court Associate Justice John Few.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Unlike nearly all other candidates for a justice\u2019s post over the years, Lucas is not a judge. His political ties, however, were enough to assure him support in the 124-member S.C. House of Representatives and enough votes in the 46-member state Senate to force other candidates in the race to drop out. In South Carolina, whoever wins a majority of the 170 state lawmakers prevails.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The last candidate to drop out before the March 4 election was Few, whose term expired July 31.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Few withdrew from the race  March 3, one day before the election. That triggered a rarely used judicial selection rule that required the election for the justice\u2019s position to be called off and a new monthslong selection process to begin.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Although Lucas and his political allies had succeeded  when Few  dropped out of the race, leaving only Lucas as a candidate, Lucas failed to win a seat because Few\u2019s action cancelled the election.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Lucas did not respond to requests for comment about his intentions to run again Friday.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Lucas campaigned out of sight of reporters, preferring to hold private meetings with lawmakers in their offices. Lucas repeatedly ignored requests for comment by reporters.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>On Feb. 18 Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, took to the Senate floor and  said Lucas  lacks  judicial experience, saying that putting him on the Supreme Court would \u201csoil\u201d the state\u2019s judiciary.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt looks like backroom deals are being made for someone who is not as qualified for or deserving of the position. It looks like the legislators are cooking the books,\u201d Massey told his fellow senators.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and whose father was a judge, said in a public filing with the Judicial Merit Selection Commission that electing the judicially inexperienced Lucas to the Supreme Court would cause some to believe that Lucas\u2019 ascension was \u201cdriven by legislative influence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4435\">Colleges must now comply with SC bathroom law. Here\u2019s how it will be enforced<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Earlier, Rankin  noted when Lucas told members of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission that he would refuse to abide by long-established law and precedent that 72 is the mandatory retirement age for judges and justices.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Instead, Lucas told the Judicial Merit Selection Commission last November he would stay at the Supreme Court until he turned 80.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease accept my sense of being dumbfounded and surprised as genuine because that was not known by me,\u201d said Rankin at the time.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Lucas\u2019 defenders answered the criticism by praising his common sense and smarts, saying he would bring fresh perspectives to the high court.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cJay Lucas is the most proven, conservative voice for the bench at a time when our state needs rock-solid constitutionalists who will uphold the rule of law. I know his heart, I know his mind, and I\u2019ve witnessed him work through our state\u2019s most complex legal challenges. I\u2019m proud to support him,\u201d said House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter at the time.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Not many jurists have the experience of Few, who climbed the judicial ladder, first spending 10 years as a circuit court trial judge, followed six years as chief judge on the Court of Appeals and the last 10 years as a Supreme Court associate justice.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Few\u2019s opinions in recent years in an abortion case and a legislative pay case left him vulnerable to a challenge, some lawmakers said. In the abortion case, Few first ruled in a 3-2 majority decision to overturn a new state abortion law, angering right-to-life lawmakers who make up a substantial legislative voting bloc.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Few later approved an overhauled abortion law. Few\u2019s other purported transgression was to join a unanimous opinion in November that said lawmakers could not vote themselves a pay raise in an ongoing legislative session.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Lucas, who became speaker in 2014 and retired from the House in 2022, was making his first run for any type of state judgeship in his quest for a seat on the state\u2019s top court. Ordinarily, judicial candidates must \u201cget in line\u201d and make several runs at the coveted seat.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>During the past five years, Lucas has practiced law only part time and been a senior executive vice president for governmental affairs at health giant Prisma Health from October 2022 through October 2024, he told the Joint Merit Selection Commission.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Few, 63, because he was the second-ranking justice on the high court in terms of seniority, was next in line to succeed Chief Justice John Kittredge, 69, when Kittredge retires in a few years.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4430\">Four declare, so far, for vacant justice seat on SC\u2019s Supreme Court<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is unknown whether former House Speaker Jay Lucas, who failed earlier this year to win a seat on the SC Supreme Court, will run again for the high court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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