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by ROM REDDY
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Today, DOGE SC under the Palmetto Revolution: Covenant 250 policy umbrella announced the introduction of a Judicial Reform bill for the upcoming session. After years of empty talk from the talkers, I cannot tell you how proud I am to see Speaker of the House Murrell Smith, Leader of the Freedom caucus Jordan Pace, Lawyer-Legislator Gil Gatch and the best and most conservative member of the Senate ( and current candidate for the US House of Representatives) Wes Climer all come together as sponsors.
Many of these factions have not worked together in the past but have put aside all partisan and ideological difference for issues such as this to protect the dream our founders handed us- a strong self- governing citizen with rights that come from God and a Government that has checks and balances and serves at the consent of the governed. This is what our 25,000 in-state volunteers want to see and are prepared to fight for.
I can anticipate the usual chorus in the media and social media – that we “sold out” to the establishment who are “RINO”s etc., etc. To you, I say, in order to sell out, someone has to buy us. We are 98 percent self-funded and do not accept money from corporations, PAC’s , special interests or even individuals who choose to donate over $900. So, we cannot be bought. As far as the name calling and years of division fostered by the warring groups and their consultants- that era is coming to an end even though the aspiring future leaders of this state seem to still live in that world of division.
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My experience has been the opposite. Speaker Smith, Representatives Pace and Gatch, Senator Climer and many others are open to bold reforms that do not get stuck in ideological rat holes but slowly take us back to the Constitution and the spirituality inherent in the Constitution that originates in the Bible. This happens to be the foundation of our Revolution on the eve of our 250th anniversary.
Our Judicial Reform bill removes Legislative control of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC). The JMSC is the entity that selects and re-appoints judges in the state from Supreme court to family court. The 12-member JMSC is dominated by lawyer-legislators who select judges and then practice in front of the judges – which violates both the Constitution and conflict of interest provisions.
I want to be clear – I am in no way implying all judges or members of the JMSC are bad players. It is my private sector experience that when you put people in a broken system, you get broken results and sometimes broken people. And then there is the matter of Article 1 Section 8 of the SC constitution, which holds that “in the matters of this state, the legislative, executive and judicial powers of the government will forever be distinct from each other, and no person or persons exercising the functions of one of said departments shall assume or discharge the duties of the other.”
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RELATED | DOGE SC ROLLS OUT JUDICIAL REFORM BILL
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The Judicial reform bill moves the selection of JMSC to the executive branch. The Governor does not select judges but selects the 12 members of the JMSC that cannot include any sitting legislators or their next of kin but can include law enforcement officers in addition to lawyers.
The executive branch through the new JMSC recommends judges to the General Assembly and the General Assembly accepts or rejects these recommendations through a simple majority vote. One branch recommends, the other branch approves. This restores Article 8 of the Constitution and restores checks and balances thus reducing the power of Government which always results in increasing the power of people. James Madison will be so happy to see this in South Carolina for the first time!
We will need all Patriots who believe in the dream of our Founders to get involved and get this bill over the finish line in the upcoming session. We will shortly show you how to get involved. The message to our Legislators is simple – you put your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. Those were not just words. This is a test of that oath. If you cannot uphold that sacred oath, then the voters will decide whether they can trust their government with anything else. I will end with Article 1 Section 1 of the SC constitution, “All political power is vested in and derived from the people only, therefore, they have the right at all times to modify their form of government.” Amen.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Rom Reddy, a businessman from Isle of Palms, S.C., is the founder of the DOGE SC movement.
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2 comments
Finally….Thank you.
The legislature will never cede power to the governor. This iteration of the SC constitution vests all power in the legislature. It was instituted by racist democrats to force republicans and blacks out of power after the civil war. However once modern republicans , and I use the term lightly, came to power they continued to use it to their advantage. Read a little Walter Edgar, it may enlighten you a bit.