League rallies behind judge

The League of Women Voters of South Carolina has weighed in on behalf of Family Court Judge F.P. Segars-Andrews' legal battle before the state Supreme Court.

The league has filed a friend of the court brief in the case Segars-Andrews brought after the state's Judicial Merit Selection Commission found her unqualified to stand for re-election.

The 10-member commission based its decision on her handling of a possible conflict of interest in a Clarendon County divorce case, but Segars-Andrews' lawsuit alleges the commission, which includes state lawmakers, violates the state's constitution on dual office-holding.

"This is the first step toward moving South Carolina to a system that removes the Legislature from controlling both steps of the judicial selection process," the league's brief said.

The brief, filed by Constance Anastopoulo, a Charleston lawyer who also is a professor at the Charleston School of Law, also said the judiciary's independence is at stake.

"Judicial independence means, at least, that the judiciary is neither dominated nor controlled by the political branches and that it is disentangled to the extent possible from the forces that influence those branches' policy choices," the brief states. "If judges answer to political parties and electoral majorities to the same degree as legislators, the courts risk being perceived as mere shadow legislatures."

Segars-Andrews is suing the commission, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn F. McConnell and House Speaker Bobby Harrell.

The state Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case and has asked that all briefs be filed by the middle of this month. It's unclear if the court will hear oral arguments or when it will rule.

The Legislature was scheduled to hold elections for new judges this week. Judicial screenings and elections have been halted because of the lawsuit.

Reach Robert Behre at rbehre@postandcourier.com.