SC chief justice defends judges, criticizes social media attacks, seeks reforms

South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge used his annual State of the Judiciary address to defend the state’s judges and push for reforms. He asked lawmakers Wednesday for more judges, magistrate pay fixes and criticized social media users who spread “half-truths and false narratives” about the courts.

FULL STORY: SC chief justice praises state judges, asks for reforms and bashes social media

Here are key takeaways:

• Social media criticism: Kittredge told lawmakers that judges are ethically barred from responding to attacks on their decisions “no matter how false or outrageous the allegation may be.” On April 7, a South Carolina podcaster acknowledged repeatedly calling state Judge R. Keith Kelly “R. Kelly,” a convicted sex trafficker.
• More judges needed: Kittredge asked the General Assembly to fund four additional circuit court judges, noting the state’s population has grown from 4 million in 2000 to more than 5.5 million — adding about 80,000 people per year.
• Magistrate pay gap: The highest-paid full-time magistrate earns $155,000 while the lowest-paid makes $37,105. Kittredge called the disparity a barrier to a uniform court system.
• Case backlogs declining: Indicted criminal cases more than three years old dropped 17.6% from 2024 to 2025. Old civil cases fell from nearly 15,000 pending at the end of 2021 to 9,200 at the end of 2025.
• Judge selection defended: Kittredge backed South Carolina’s legislative election process for judges, saying the 170-member General Assembly’s vetting provides a “diffusion of authority” that enhances merit selection over any single person controlling the process.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.