From In re Martel, decided yesterday by the South Carolina Court of Appeals (Judges Paula Thomas, Stephanie McDonald, and Blake Hewitt):
This case involves a family court judge's direct contempt citation against Appellant, attorney Lauren Martel. Martel argues the family court erred in finding her in criminal contempt at a hearing in which the judge's impartiality and temperament were questioned. We agree, and we reverse the finding of contempt.
The first family court judge assigned to hear the emergency motion in this contentious custody litigation properly recused herself "to avoid any appearance of impropriety" when Martel's client [Mother] …, expressed concerns about the first judge's familiarity with the family of [Father] …. The then-chief administrative judge for Fourteenth Circuit family court matters stepped in to the January 10, 2019 emergency hearing and rescheduled the matter for the following week. At that time, Martel advised that this second judge might have a conflict as well. In response, the family court instructed her to "file something. We want it in writing."
The following day—January 11—Martel emailed the scheduling clerk—copying the family court judge, Father's counsel, and others—and identified several issues she believed necessitated the second judge's recusal as well. We will not detail all of the concerns here, but the email included an allegation that the second judge "appears to be practicing law in this case rather than presiding over this serious matter in [an] unbiased manner" possibly due to his close relationships with Father's family and counsel and the judge's personal bias against Mother's attorney, Martel….
