The South Carolina Legislature on Wednesday elected a new chief justice for the state's high court.
Associate Supreme Court Justice John W. Kittredge was formally elected by the 170-member General Assembly to succeed outgoing Chief Justice Don Beatty.
Beatty is the high court's only Black justice, and the second Black justice to ever sit on the Supreme Court.
Kittredge has served as a state court judge for 33 years. He was elected a Family Court judge in 1991, and later served as judge of the Circuit Court, and the Court of Appeals.
He was elected associate justice of the Supreme Court in 2008.
The 68 year-old judge is a native of Greenville, and a graduate of the University of South Carolina Law School.
During his tenure, Kittredge's opinions have been viewed as conservative.
