Who Let The Dogs In?

A Lowcountry, S.C. judge who has found herself at the center of two major scandals in recent years now finds herself confronting another mess – literally.

Critics claim that S.C. Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein has turned a new $13 million court house in Dorchester County into a “pooping ground” for her three dogs, although they admit they are powerless to order the judge to keep her three canines at home.

From a hilarious article published by the Charleston Post and Courier, here’s how the drama has unfolded …

… Goodstein is not averse to bringing her cuddly Cavalier King Charles spaniel lap dog to work. Or the mid-size Boykin spaniel. Or the lanky Airedale for that matter.

There even have been some complaints and reports of, umm, “accidents.”

Dorchester County Council wants to put a stop to it, but there’s just one little problem. According to state law, council can’t set rules for what goes on in the courthouse it owns. Only the clerk of court can. So council has told County Attorney John Frampton to draft a letter “requesting” that animals, except for service animals, not be allowed on the premises.

“The taxpayers paying for the building don’t bring their dogs to work. Other county employees don’t bring their dogs to work. Frankly, I’m surprised I’m having to make this request,” Council Chairman Jamie Feltner said.

FITS readers will recall that Goodstein was at the center of a major State House scandal two years ago involving her aborted quest to become a State Supreme Court justice.

More recently, she has been accused of conspiring with disgraced former judge Larry Richter to circumvent justice in a controversial child molestation case involving the powerful Charleston Diocese.

“Collusion by a church, lawyers and a judge to harm the rights and interests of victims of sexual abuse constitutes extreme and outrageous conduct which exceeds all possible bounds of decency and which must be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community,” the complaint against Goodstein in that case states.

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