In South Carolina, former Rep. Mike Pitts is a Laurens County judge. He was approved despite a past that should have stopped him from getting the job.
What kind of past? A racist one, of course.
The Advocate describes Mike as “a retired police officer and former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives who does not have a law license.”
And yet, despite making racist, transphobic, and anti-immigrant comments publicly, this staunch defender of the confederate flag is a magistrate.
Despite clearly being biased, this man has the ability to judge the very people he’s spewed hate towards!
A racist like Pitts will decide hundreds of thousands of cases alongside other magistrates - a perfect storm to abuse power.
Here’s the (bigger) joke: Pitts didn’t even want to be a judge! He wanted another job as director of the S.C. Conservation Bank, but his messy ethics led to an application withdrawal.
Now, this guy gets to be a judge, instead. Must be nice having the privilege to jump from one powerful position to another like that!
So how does someone like this get the job? Maybe a better question is, how don’t they?
Black people know all too well that bigots can easily become our judges, politicians, and police officers.
Mike Pitts has literally done all three … and this bigot hasn’t lost steam yet.