Judicial Evaluation Results
Contributed by
The South Carolina Bar

The South Carolina Bar has released the results of the 2006 Judicial Evaluation Survey for South Carolina judges who have completed all or one-half of their current terms.

Judges were evaluated on their legal skills, impartiality, judicial temperament, industry, and promptness. Respondents evaluated the judges using a scale of one to four with four being excellent; three, good; two, satisfactory; and one, deficient. Members were asked to evaluate only those judges with whom they have had sufficient professional experience to make an informed evaluation.

Evaluations were published for the following judges: Court of Appeals: C. Tolbert Goolsby Jr., John W. Kittredge; Circuit Court: John L. Breeden Jr., J. Derham Cole, Doyet A. "Jack" Early III, D. Garrison "Gary" Hill, Deadra L. Jefferson, J. Ernest Kinard Jr., Alison Renee Lee, J.C. "Buddy" Nicholson Jr., Thomas A. Russo, G. Edward Welmaker; Family Court: Haskell T. Abbott III, Georgia V. Anderson, Robert S. Armstrong, H.E. Bonnoitt Jr., Walter B. Brown Jr., Mary E. Buchan, Jocelyn B. Cate, Richard W. Chewning III, Wayne M. Creech, Tommy B. Edwards, James F. Fraley Jr., Dale Moore Gable, Paul W. Garfinkel, Brian M. Gibbons, Rolly W. Jacobs, Robert N. Jenkins Sr., R. Kinard Johnson Jr., Anne Gue Jones, Barry W. Knobel, Joseph W. McGowan III, A. Eugene Morehead III, Jamie Lee Murdock, Leslie K. Riddle, C. David Sawyer Jr., Gerald C. Smoak Jr., James A. Spruill III, Billy A. Tunstall Jr., R. Wright Turbeville, Jerry D. Vinson Jr., Henry T. Woods, W. Jeffrey Young; Masters-in-Equity: Curtis G. Clark, Benjamin H. Culbertson, Mikell R. Scarborough, Robert A. Smoak Jr., Jeffrey M. Tzerman, and Robert E. Watson

The Supreme Court and Court of Appeals were also surveyed on their timeliness in issuing decisions. A minimum of 50 responses for appellate, circuit and family court judges and a minimum of 30 responses for masters-in-equity must have been received in order to publish the results. No attempt was made to compare the evaluation of one judge to that of another. The Bar's annual judicial evaluation survey is a separate evaluation from the Judicial Qualifications Committee reports that rate judicial candidates based on interviews with lawyers and others.

Visit for results:

www.scbar.org/pdf/06JES.pdf.