Judicial Meddling

The South Carolina Supreme Court recently suspended a magistrate for 60 days. The magistrate’s son-in-law was involved in a child support dispute. An issue arose regarding whether the child was enrolled in day care. After his daughter found that relevant information would be released pursuant to subpoena, he created and faxed subpoenas with a directive that the documents be sent to him. When he pressed the day care center for a response, counsel for the center questioned the magistrate’s authority to issue the subpoenas. The magistrate then advised counsel to shred the subpoena. The magistrate had a prior record of judicial misconduct. (Mike Frisch)