The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.S.C. Const. art. V, § 2

Selection of justices

Judges are selected by the legislature of South Carolina to serve terms of ten years.
There is no prohibition against justices serving multiple terms on the court. However, there is a mandatory retirement age of 72 for state trial judges and state appellate judges in

.S.C. Code Ann. § 9-8-60(1)

Current justices of the court

Jurisdiction

The court enjoys both original and

appellate jurisdiction A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

. It enjoys exclusive appellate jurisdiction for all state cases regarding the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

, state utility rates, judgments involving public bonded indebtedness and elections, and orders limiting state

grand juries A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a per ...

and relating to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

s by minors. Original jurisdiction pertains to the issuance writs including mandamus, certiorari, and very extraordinary bills.S.C. Code Ann. § § 14-3-310 to -330

Additional charges of the court

The South Carolina Supreme Court oversees the admission of individuals to practice law in the state.S.C. Const. art. V, § 4
Much of the administration regarding admissions and practice is delegated to the South Carolina Bar, established by statute as an administrative arm of the court; however, the court retains ultimate authority in South Carolina governing the practice of law.S.C. Code Ann. § 40-5-20
It also supervises the disciplining of attorneys and suspension of those no longer able to practice due to mental or physical condition.

History

The Supreme Court of South Carolina Building is located in the state capital of

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

. The court moved into its current location, a former United States Post Office building, in 1971.Littlejohn, Bruce ''Littlejohn's South Carolina Judicial History: 1930-2004'', Joggling Board Press, Charleston, SC (2005). It was built between 1917 and 1921, and is a two-story, Neo-Classical style building. The building has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

since 1972. Prior to 1971, the court met in a section of the

South Carolina State House The South Carolina State House is the building housing the government of the U.S. state of South Carolina, which includes the South Carolina General Assembly and the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. Located in th ...

in an area totaling approximately ; the justices did not have individual offices, but instead met in a common conference room when not presiding over a session of court. Controversy arose in late 2007 after ''

The State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "sta ...

'' newspaper reported that the Supreme Court reversed the grades of 20 people who failed the South Carolina bar exam, including children of prominent attorneys, by voiding the results of the wills,

trusts A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "sett ...

, and

estates Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representati ...

section of the exam. From 1930 to 2016, the South Carolina Supreme Court has had 17 Chief Justices.

References

External links

South Carolina Supreme Court
{{authority control Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Government buildings completed in 1921 Buildings and structures in Columbia, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Columbia, South Carolina

South Carolina state courts 1841 establishments in South Carolina Courts and tribunals established in 1841