Chief Justice Jean Toal will have some competition for the top judicial post in South Carolina. The State newspaper is reporting that Associate Justice Costa Pleicones will toss his hat in the ring and run against Justice Toal.
I don't really have a dog in the race, since I'm just a humble little lawyer around these parts. I had heard that the Chief Justice was considering not running again, so I guess you can't believe everything you hear. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, though.
Isn't there a mandatory retirement age for judges in SC?
ReplyDeleteYes. S.C. Code 9-8-60 (Supp. 2010) sets 72 as the retirement age.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, both Chief Justice Toal AND Justice Pleicones are 69. So it doesn't really matter who wins the election, the winner will face mandatory retirement in about three years. Seems odd that they would run for a seat that is a 10 year term if they can only serve 3.
So we'll do this all over again in about three years anyway.