South Carolina circuit court judicial nominee Melissa Inzerillo was the subject of a legislative campaign which hoped to end her candidacy prior to it receiving an up-or-down vote by members of the S.C. General Assembly. FITSNews previously reported on the efforts of multiple members of the York County legislative delegation to secure votes against Inzerillo after what they describe as a “coordinated campaign of character assassination” against her electoral opponent, York County magistrate Jennifer S. Colton.

South Carolina’s judicial selection process empowers a qualifications committee of the S.C. Bar to submit its findings on judges to members of the S.C. Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC) – a panel dominated by high-powered attorneys who, in turn, determine which judicial candidates are voted on by lawmakers.

Judicial qualification reports are not publicized in the event a candidate withdraws from consideration for nomination.

Some lawmakers feel the qualification committee’s report unfairly discredited Colton – and accused this same panel of producing unfairly unfavorable reports about other qualified candidates due to political considerations, which would be an inappropriate basis upon which to base its determinations. They allege these reports are subsequently used to leverage otherwise qualified candidates to drop out of judicial races under the threat of having a document released that could hinder their career prospects.

“Jennifer was the victim of a coordinated campaign of character assassination,” state senator Wes Climer told FITSNews.

Multiple legislators told this news outlet they felt the integrity of the judicial selection process had been corrupted, and began soliciting votes against Inzerillo – a career indigent defense attorney whose allies in the legal profession insist is qualified for service on the circuit court bench regardless of the process that eliminated her opponent.

***

Lisa Collins, an attorney who has spent decades prosecuting criminal cases in South Carolina, reached out to FITSNews to go on the record about her experience with Inzerillo.

“I was a prosecutor and she was a defense attorney,” Collins recalled, referring to Inzerillo as being “very well versed in the law.”

“She had everyone’s respect,” Collins added, noting Inzerillo had “a great demeanor.”

Collins also referenced Inzerillo’s physical disability.

“One thing that people aren’t speaking about, and maybe it’s because people are worried about talking about it – Melissa is disabled,” Collins said.

“She has had difficulty physically for many years,” Collins continued, noting “when God limits some of our talents, he gives us others, and to Melissa, he has given a great intelligence, a great strength of spirit and a great commitment to justice, and I don’t know this, but perhaps that is why she has spent her career defending people who our constitution says should have the right to a defender.”

“Melissa and I have had cases against each other, and we did not always agree, but she was always a tireless, hard worker for her clients,” Collins said. “(She) presented her client’s positions extremely well, and didn’t take offense or take it personally when we didn’t agree with each other, because we understood our roles and were professionals.”

Collins said she understands how the judicial selection process works, having previously campaigned to fill the seat of retiring circuit court judge John C. Hayes III in 2017 – and having experienced pressure to withdraw from that race to clear the field for the General Assembly’s favored candidate. Collins decided to take the matter to a vote rather than be forced from the race.

***

RELATED | MORE JUDICIAL SCREENING DRAMA

***

“If the other candidate doesn’t believe the comments were right and they were rigged and it’s a bad system, why withdraw?” Collins asked, suggesting Colton should have “let it go forward publicly.”

Collins said Colton “could continue and be in the process, but she chose to withdraw.”

Had Colton stayed in the race, her current position as a magistrate would have prevented her from commenting publicly on the process – leaving her unable to defend her reputation unless she resigned from the bench.

Collins said that when she ran for the circuit court bench she was asked to withdraw by members of the General Assembly during her candidacy.

“I got unbearable pressure, and I refused to withdraw,” she said. “They told me, ‘no one likes to be with a loser.’”

“I don’t mind being seen as the candidate who lost,” she added. “In every election someone wins and someone loses. If you want to use the term ‘loser’, that’s fine, but I don’t want to be seen as a quitter.”

Collins told those who didn’t understand why she wouldn’t just drop out that “my daughter is interested in this race, my mother is interested in this, and I had women throughout our circuit, both attorneys and citizens, who were supporting me, and they would not have understood why I just quit, why I didn’t take it to a vote.”

Collins stayed in “despite these men saying, ‘that’s how it’s done.’”

“Maybe,” she suggested, “that’s not how it should be done.”

“This is the dirty side of politics,” Collins said. “But to me, it is a smear on the members of our delegation who will not say, ‘Okay, this is the process – Inzerillo is the only candidate, she’s been found qualified, and she’s been nominated, she’s been an upstanding member of this community.’”

“I think she’s going to stay in,” Collins said, when asked if she had any predictions about Inzerillo’s plans.

Orangeburg attorney and state representative Justin Bamberg encouraged Inzerillo to do just that.

***

RELATED | S.C. DEMOCRAT PROPOSES INCOME TAX ELIMINATION

***

“I directly encouraged Ms. Inzerillo to remain in the race through its conclusion and let the chips fall where they may,” Bamberg told FITSNews, adding “she shouldn’t drop out just because some members are mad that their preferred candidate voluntarily chose to not finish the judicial screening process.”

“It’s ridiculous to ask a quality candidate to kamikaze her own chance at earning a judgeship when unopposed through no fault of her own,” he added. “People want a politically and improperly motivated do-over, and that’s is not how it works.”

According to Bamberg, his colleagues “have every right to vote against her if they’d like to.”

“So goes the process,” he said.

According to multiple lawmakers, it is likely Inzerillo will not have the votes she needs to win even if she remains on the slate come election day.

S.C. House speaker pro tempore Tommy Pope, a member of the York County delegation and former sixteenth circuit solicitor told The State newspaper “although we only have one candidate in the sixteenth circuit, from the numbers I have seen I do not believe Melissa will have the votes.”

One legislator who disclosed their intention to vote against Inzerillo cited cases previously covered by this news outlet when asked why they weren’t inclined to support her.

FITSNews has written about a litany of disastrous decisions made by South Carolina’s legislatively-appointed judges, decisions that have repeatedly led to violent re-offenses. One such case was S.C. magistrate John C. Kenney‘s decision to grant bond to Shawn Laval Smith bond despite a lengthy and violent rap-sheet – a decision which ultimately led to the high-profile murder of 24-year old UCLA graduate Brianna Kupfer.

FITSNews reported on Kenney’s bond decision immediately after Kupfer’s death.

Kenney elected to release Smith after he had been accused of firing a flare gun into a car occupied by a father and his child while in Charleston. Smith is now serving life without parole after being found guilty of Kupfer’s murder.

FITSNews editorialized at the time, asking rhetorically “how many more bodies will it take before someone stands up and does something?”

(Click to view)

***

Multiple members of the York County legislative delegation told this news outlet they’re attempting to prevent the seating of a circuit court judge who has the potential to make decades of decisions they fear will endanger the public.

While Inzerillo is currently running for a partial term, her election would make future attempts to oust her politically untenable.

“Being a public defender isn’t a disqualifier, but being a true believer is,” York County senator Wes Climer told FITSNews.

Climer added he doesn’t have “any confidence in her ability to fairly adjudicate cases,” saying he is “particularly concerned about her approach to criminal sentencing, where judges have considerable latitude.”

“That’s why an overwhelming majority of the local delegation remains opposed to her election,” he said.

S.C. House communication committee chairman Brandon Guffey – also a member of the York County delegation – told FITSNews he also doesn’t expect Inzerillo to have the support of its members.

“The bottom line is nobody in Columbia sent me here, my people back home did,” Guffey said, adding that he “has to look at what’s best for the sixteenth circuit.”

Guffey said he was uncomfortable with the process which resulted in Colton’s removal – and wasn’t satisfied with having a candidate on the ballot whom he feels many of his constituents wouldn’t want on the bench. Guffey cited Inzerillo’s lack of experience as a civil litigator, saying “I don’t feel comfortable with someone who has only been a public defender.”

“She is a very nice girl, but at the same time if (I) was just looking at a spreadsheet, I would not feel comfortable confirming her,” he said.

Guffey said he expects his colleagues to continue the body’s tradition of deferring to the wishes of a county’s legislative delegation when it comes to the election of judges.

“Typically you respect the representatives that represent a county,” Guffey said. “If somebody talks to me about a candidate in their own circuit, I’m going to make sure that I’m listening to them primarily because that carries more weight than anything.”

FITSNews’ founding editor Will Folks has repeatedly opined that in judicial races, “if there’s no choice, there’s no accountability.”

Just because there is only one name on the legislative ballot for a judicial election does not mean that candidate is guaranteed to win a seat on the bench. Last year, former S.C. House minority leader James Smith saw his judicial bid defeated after FITSNews called out S.C. Democrats for conspiring to remove his sole opponent – an eminently qualified black candidate – from the ballot.

***

RELATED | SOUTH CAROLINA COPS, PROSECUTORS SEEK JUDICIAL REFORM

***

First circuit solicitor and judicial reform advocate David Pascoe told FITSNews the situation is yet another demonstration of the need for greater transparency in the Palmetto State’s judicial selection process.

“I have no position on the race itself,” Pascoe said. “However, I wish the legislature would take this opportunity to pass a real judicial reform bill.”

Pascoe said “the House passed a good judicial reform bill” in 2024, but the legislation was “gutted by the triumvirate of Rankin, Massey and Malloy,” referring to state senators Luke Rankin, Shane Massey and former senator Gerald Malloy.

“Many senators who oppose judicial reform are no longer here, so let’s pass real reform, which would include better transparency in the process,” Pascoe said.

Pascoe suggested all candidates who run for judicial seats could have their qualification reports released, effectively eliminating the ability of candidates to be pressured into dropping out of races under the threat of the release of a report that could damage their reputation.

“I believe these reports should be made public if you sign your name to run,” Pascoe said.

FITSNews has repeatedly called on members of the General Assembly to adopt a new method of selecting judges in order to avoid perennial opportunities for judicial races to be inappropriately tainted.

Inzerillo’s vote is scheduled for this Wednesday (February 5, 2025). Count on FITSNews to update our audience as to the outcome of that tally.

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

(Via: Travis Bell)

Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.

***

WANNA SOUND OFF?

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.