South Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Don Beatty, who had his voting record brought in to question during his election process last year, has now gone on the offensive.
In an article that appeared in yesterday’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal (See: http://goupstate.com/article/20080605/NEWS/806050362/1051/NEWS01), Justice Beatty claims that his skin color is the basis of a mailpiece that a group called Conservatives in Action sent throughout Representative Bob Walker’s district.
According to the article, referring to the groups Conservatives in Action, South Carolinians for Responsible Government, and the South Carolina Club for Growth, Justice Beatty added that, “I’ve heard them referred to on more than one occasion as the new face of the (Ku Klux) Klan. I’m almost about to believe that.”
As with the previous post, our crack research staff looked at the mailpiece in question in an attempt to verify the justice’s claim that the mailpiece was indeed race-based. You can, too. Just click on the images above.
According to a thorough visual analysis, there is no photograph of Justice Beatty and no mention of his skin color. In fact, the only mentions of gender are there to substitute the proper names of Justice Beatty and Representative Walker.
The piece claims that Representative Walker supported a judge with a liberal voting record as a member of the SC House of Representatives and then cites issues such as abortion, gun ownership rights, and taxation/spending where the group disagrees with Justice Beatty’s recorded positions.
Did we mention there is no photo of the justice or mention of his skin color?
The two men served together in the SC House as members of the Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation until Justice Beatty was elected to the Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit in August 1995, and Representative Walker is facing a serious challenge by political newcomer Joey Millwood.
That’s the truth.
