Magistrate Judges Took Bribes, Stole Money and Mishandled Cases. South Carolina Officials Now Want

[TexasTowelie]

Magistrate Judges Took Bribes, Stole Money and Mishandled Cases. South Carolina Officials Now Want Reform.


COLUMBIA, S.C. — When the South Carolina legislature reconvenes next week, lawmakers say a priority will be ramping up their scrutiny of local magistrate judges, many of whom are among the state’s busiest but least qualified jurists.

A 2019 series by The Post and Courier and ProPublica exposed how a flawed system of selection and oversight provided fertile ground for incompetence and corruption on the bench.

Hand-picked by politicians, some magistrates were found to have accepted bribes, stolen money, flubbed trials, trampled over constitutional protections and mishandled even the most basic elements of criminal cases.

And though they handle hundreds of thousands of misdemeanor and civil cases every year, roughly three-quarters of the state’s magistrates have never practiced law in their life, the investigation found.

Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/magistrate-judges-took-bribes-stole-money-and-mishandled-cases-south-carolina-officials-now-want-reform

[TigressDem]

1. WHAT?!!! HOW?

HOW do you handle legal cases without practicing law ever before? I mean at least they have a law degree? Maybe newbie?

It can't be legal to put someone in that position who hasn't even taken bar exam?

snip

they handle hundreds of thousands of misdemeanor and civil cases every year, roughly three-quarters of the state’s magistrates have never practiced law in their life....

[COL Mustard]

2. Wait...Those Are Bad Things, Right?

Just want to be sure. The legal picture changes from time to time.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Virginia has more or less the same arrangement with Magistrates.

Not judges who may (or may not) have experience in even pedestrian matters such as municipal traffic law.

Joe Blow can be a Magistrate and "wing" justice without fulling knowing the law. It's a system that just invites corruption.

I practice law in a small town in NJ. While the municipal judges may side more times than not with the Police, against my clients, at least I have a shot at appeals as it's presumed that the judge knows the law and/or can do appropriate legal analysis.