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South Carolina's Supreme Court is set to have all-white justices for the first time in nearly two decades.
According to reports, South Carolina will be joining 18 other states whose Supreme Courts are entirely white following next week's election for a new justice.
The report comes amid Chief Justice Don Beatty, South Carolina's only Black justice, leaving the bench as he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 72. Circuit Judge Jocelyn Newman was the only Black candidate for the open seat, but she dropped out of the race after candidates were allowed to start asking lawmakers for support.
The only two candidates remaining for next week's election are a white man and woman.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, twelve of the states that hail all-white Supreme Courts have minority populations of at 20 percent.
“It’s shameful. Whether people like it or not, we have a diverse state. The people who appear before the bench are diverse. The judges they appear before should be diverse,” Democratic Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter said.
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