South Carolina Court of Appeals
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The South Carolina Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level
appellate court 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 of ...
for the
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
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 = ...
.


Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeals hears most appeals from the Circuit Courts and Family Courts of South Carolina that do not fall within the seven classes of cases over which the
South Carolina Supreme Court The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.
exercises
exclusive jurisdiction Exclusive jurisdiction exists in civil procedure if one court has the power to adjudicate a case to the exclusion of all other courts. The opposite situation is concurrent jurisdiction (or non-exclusive jurisdiction) in which more than one cour ...
. Those seven classes are cases involving #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 t ...
, #public
utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...
rates, #significant
constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...
issues, #public bond issues, #
election law Election law is a branch of public law that relates to the democratic processes, election of representatives and office holders, and referendums, through the regulation of the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, election management b ...
s, #an order limiting the investigation by a state
grand jury 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 pe ...
, and #an order issued by a family court relating to an
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 pregn ...
by a minor.


History


Pre-Civil War

The modern incarnation of the court began operations in 1983, but had historical antecedents dating back to
colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...
. In 1721, the General Court of the colonial government was given
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 of t ...
over civil case decisions from the lower courts of the colony, but there were no separate appellate courts. The original
South Carolina Constitution The Constitution of the State of South Carolina is the governing document of the United States, U.S. state of South Carolina. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. The current constitution took effect on December 4, 18 ...
of 1790 made provisions for trial court judges to meet at the end of a term to decide on such matters as motions for new trials and other related matters. This practice was formalized by
statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
in 1799, when the
South Carolina General Assembly The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and t ...
created an appellate body of state circuit judges known as the "Constitutional Court", and provided for the
writ of error In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
to be used. The General Assembly created a Court of Equity in 1808, but this also proved to be unsatisfactory to the administration of justice, primarily because in many cases, the trial judge also sat on the appellate body. The General Assembly responded by creating the first Court of Appeals in 1824, which consisted of three judges and had appellate jurisdiction in cases of law and
equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...
. The Court was not an intermediate appellate body as the modern Court is, but a court of last resort that functioned similarly to the Constitutional Court. Unfortunately, this Court of Appeals would become a casualty of the Nullification Crisis. The pro-nullification General Assembly, in its zeal to nullify the
Tariff of 1828 The Tariff of 1828 was a very high protective tariff that became law in the United States in May 1828. It was a bill designed to not pass Congress because it was seen by free trade supporters as hurting both industry and farming, but surprising ...
and support of state supremacy, passed legislation mandating that officers in the State Militia recite a "test oath" swearing allegiance to South Carolina rather than the federal government. One state militia officer, M'Cready, refused to recite the oath, and was thus denied his commission. M'Cready petitioned the state trial court for a
writ of mandamus (; ) is a judicial remedy in the form of an order from a court to any government, subordinate court, corporation, or public authority, to do (or forbear from doing) some specific act which that body is obliged under law to do (or refrain from ...
compelling the commander to grant him his commission. After the trial court denied his petition, M'Cready sought appellate review before the Court of Appeals. The case of ''M'Cready v. Hunt'' came before the Court of Appeals in 1834, and the Court reversed the lower court's opinion by a vote of 2 to 1, declaring the oath unconstitutional. The General Assembly was outraged by the Court of Appeals' decision in ''M'Cready v. Hunt'', and responded by abolishing the Court in the 1835 Legislative session. The Court was replaced the following year, when the General Assembly passed an act providing for separate Courts of Appeals for cases in law and equity. The Act also provided that all the law judges and equity judges would sit en banc as a Court of Errors to hear appeals of constitutional questions, when the court was divided, or when any two judges certified the case. These new Courts of Appeals suffered the same defects that the previous appellate bodies did: in both law and equity cases, the appellant was disadvantaged by the fact that the trial judge also sat on the appellate body. The Court of Appeals was reestablished in 1859, again with three judges (this time, one chief judge and two associate judges). The procedure was a bit more complex this time around: the Court of Appeals could issue final
judgments Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle s ...
in both law and equity, but in cases where a constitutional question or conflict of laws issue was presented, the judges of the courts of law and equity would convene along with the Court of Appeals in a Court of Errors. The Court of Errors' decisions were final and unappealable. After the defeat of the Confederacy in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, South Carolina called a new Constitutional Convention. The South Carolina Constitution of 1868 provided for Supreme Court, circuit courts, "and such inferior courts as the Legislature should provide", but did not create any intermediate appellate courts.


Modern times

The Court of Appeals was revived by the General Assembly in 1979, to relieve the growing backlog of appellate cases in the state's judicial system. The Court was to consist of a Chief Judge and four associate judges, and have appellate jurisdiction over only criminal and family court cases. This new Court was intended to begin operations in 1980, but this was delayed by a number of constitutional disputes which forced the General Assembly to rewrite the act authorizing the Court, and delaying its opening until 1983. One dispute concerned the court's membership; the state supreme court objected when the judges of the new court were going to include then-sitting legislators. On May 19, 1983, the South Carolina Senate approved legislation which would create an interim appellate court starting in September 1983 and lasting for two years; the public would then have a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment to create a permanent intermediate court in 1984. By the time the new court was created, it took approximately three and a half years for an appeal from a trial court to be heard by the state's supreme court. Finally, in November 1984, voters approved a constitutional amendment making the South Carolina Court of Appeals a constitutional court. This voter
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
was ratified by the General Assembly on January 17, 1985. At first, the new court functioned only to divert certain cases from the Supreme Court, but in 1992, procedures were changed so that the Court of Appeals became an intermediate court of review, and appeals to the Supreme Court were mostly discretionary. In 1992, Judge Sanders resigned from the court, following the acceptance of an offer to serve as the President of the College of Charleston. The Chief Judge seat remained vacant until 1993, when Judge William T. Howell was elected.


Judges

the judges of the court are: * Chief Judge H. Bruce Williams * Judge Paula H. Thomas * Judge Aphrodite K. Konduros * Judge John D. Geathers * Judge Stephanie McDonald * Judge D. Garrison Hill * Judge Blake A. Hewitt * Jerry D. Vinson Jr.


References


External links


Official homepage of the South Carolina Court of AppealsHistory of the South Carolina Court of Appeals
* {{State Intermediate Appellate Courts State appellate courts of the United States South Carolina state courts 1983 establishments in South Carolina Courts and tribunals established in 1983