S.270, S.337 – Lawmakers’ spouses can’t be elected to judicial office

Two bills (S.270 & S.337) would prohibit the spouse of a sitting lawmaker from being elected to judicial office, and this extends up to a year after that lawmaker leaves office. This ban only applies to judges elected by the General Assembly, but as SCPC has reported, that’s nearly all of them. The current practice of letting lawmakers elect the family members of their peers is inherently unethical and rife with conflict of interest. This is a common sense reform that would help to diminish the undue influence lawmakers have over the judicial branch.