Sun News: Sparks fly in judge race

Posted on January 22, 2008 
Filed Under News

The race for Horry County’s family court judgeship sparked hotter than usual for these types of contests last week when Horry County lawyers started calling and writing legislators about which candidate they favored.

Anita Floyd and Ronnie Norton are seeking the spot to be vacated by Tommy Abbott. Melissa Johnson Emery was also nominated but withdrew on Wednesday after failing to get enough promised votes to stay viable.

Lawmakers say they expect one or the other will have the required number of votes by the end of this week.

Legislators elect judges, and Tuesday was the first day that candidates could seek votes. The election will be Feb. 6.

On Wednesday, as Larry Hyman locked up enough promises of votes to secure an at-large circuit court judgeship based in Horry County, other local contenders became locked in tight races.

Besides the Floyd-Norton race, the contest for state Supreme Court was also undecided. Appeals Court Chief Judge Kaye Hearn of Conway is one of the three candidates in that race.

Georgetown County native John D. Geathers of Columbia withdrew from his race for a seat on the Appeals Court.

But it was the Floyd-Norton contest that had many legislators, even those from other parts of the state, talking Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, they received a letter from five lawyers on the Horry County Bar Association’s Family Court Committee asking that Norton be elected. Floyd is also a member of that committee.

Later that day, after Emery withdrew, a government watchdog blog posted an S.C. Bar Association report on Floyd which ruled her unqualified. Less than a year previously, the same report found her the most qualified of the candidates who were seeking a previous family court opening.

The Sun News reported the Bar Association report and the discrepancies Dec. 1, when the bar’s director said that can happen when different people are interviewed.

The bar reports use statements from 30 attorneys who know the candidate. The director characterized 30 attorneys as a small segment of Horry’s 474 lawyers.

Despite the Bar Association report, the Judicial Merit Selection Commission found Floyd qualified.

Their report to lawmakers also noted they discounted testimony from two Horry County attorneys who spoke against Floyd at the public hearing in December.

The citizens’ committee that interviews candidates found her qualified and her performance on tests and other interviews with the commission found no problems.

“The complainants have litigated family court matters against Ms. Floyd and cited examples from those cases in support of their allegations,” the commission’s report said.

“Based on the totality of the record before them, the allegations made in the complaints were outweighed by the other evidence presented on behalf of Ms. Floyd,” the report said.

One of the attorneys complained of the way Floyd dressed, and that was one of the things that had lawmakers buzzing. No one could recall seeing such a comment against a candidate, and several said it showed that the testimony against Floyd was a personal issue and was not serious.

“It’s just typical Horry County politics,” said Rep. Vida Miller, D-Pawleys Island. She said she has talked to many attorneys who refer people to Floyd for domestic cases, as well as those who have gone to her themselves for divorces.

She said she and Georgetown County’s other three delegation members are committed to Floyd.

Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, said the Horry delegation was split over the issue, with the three members who are attorneys inclined to go along with what other lawyers want.

However, just as many lawyers were calling in Floyd’s favor as against her, said Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach. The comment on clothing may have created a backlash in Floyd’s favor, he said.

He also said lawmakers agree that Norton is not involved in the slams against Floyd.

Neither Floyd nor Norton would speak on the record about the race but both indicated the situation is painfully uncomfortable.

Lawmakers agree both are experienced in family law. The family court handles divorces, adoptions, juvenile crime and similar cases.

Floyd has been practicing since 1985, with 80 percent of her work in domestic cases. Norton has been practicing since 1977, also with 80 percent of his work in domestic cases.

Also this week:

A public hearing on raising the cigarette tax and on what to do with the money will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Room 308 of the Gressette Senate Office Building.

A subcommittee hearing on a law regulating water use from rivers will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Room 209 at Gressette.

The House has 32 committee meetings on its schedule for the week, most of them Ways and Means Committee subcommittees that are working on the state budget.

The House Judiciary Committee will consider immigration legislation at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 516 of the Blatt House Office Building. It is not a public hearing.

Contact ZANE WILSON at 357-9188 or zwilson@thesunnews.com.

Sun News |  1/20/08

S.C. LEGISLATURE
Sparks fly in judge race
Candidates pick up support from county lawyers
By Zane Wilson - The Sun News