‘I Feel Like We’re Backing Up, Instead of Moving Forward’

We have an amazing cadre of judges in South Carolina. And it’s because in order to be a judge, you don’t have to raise a war chest. You don’t have to ask for contributions from big business, from lawyers to help you do TV ads and all that. You don’t have to spend any money at all other than the gas that you put in your car to come to Columbia and get to know the members of the General Assembly. Is it a perfect system? No, it’s not perfect. I don’t think there is a perfect system. But it’s pretty darn good. And we have an amazing cadre, as I said, of hardworking, committed judges as a result. And very, very little corruption or graft, because no money is changing hands.

I remember speaking to one of my judge friends from Texas, and he told me he had to raise $2 million to get a job that paid, at that time, about $100,000. And I’m like, “Well, these people that give you money, who are they?” And he said, “Well, businesses, lawyers.” And it’s clear they expect something when they come in front of the court. We don’t have that.

Rab: Do you think having an independent judiciary and issuing opinions, as you just did, can be sort of a corrective? There’s some question as to whether the [six-week abortion ban] the legislature passed really reflects the will of the people.

Hearn: Of course, the legislature in the state and elsewhere has plenary powers, and they are the representatives of the people. I completely accept that. But our whole system was founded on a system of checks and balances. This is exactly the way the system is supposed to work. I know I can speak for all my colleagues on the court, we respect the decisions of the General Assembly. But that’s a different question as to whether or not that legislation is constitutional. And I would hope when we would make a decision — they can disagree with it, of course they can — but I would hope they would respect it. And I think that’s the disappointment that I’m seeing with our governor last night. He’s a litigant in a case in front of us that’s still pending.

Rab: What have you heard from the public? Have you heard from female attorneys about your retirement?

Hearn: Absolutely. Gotten all kinds of letters and phone calls. And I was at the South Carolina Bar Convention last week, and a lot of women and men were very … I feel the love. I feel the love.

Rab: Last year, you wrote quite a dissent in a death penalty case, arguing that the system is broken because the court has never found the punishment to be disproportionate to the crime — even in this case, when the man was unarmed.

Hearn: I do believe in the death penalty. But I believe it should be reserved for the worst of the worst. And I have voted to uphold a death penalty sentence on multiple occasions. And it was only in that case that I felt it was not proportionate to the crime. And I did take that opportunity. I do not believe the general public is aware that we have men on death row dating back to the 80s. We have over 30. So I think my opinion made it clear that if we’re going to have a death penalty, let’s have one that works. This is not working.

Because to me, that’s not fair to the victims’ families. It’s not fair to the jurors. That is the most difficult decision a juror could ever make. And they voted to sentence someone to death, and yet decades later, it hasn’t happened. It’s not even fair to the families of the defendants. So I did take that opportunity. I wanted to educate the public on what was going on, because I worry so much that the general public is so unaware of what’s happening in state government, in the courts, in the prisons.