| Don Beatty | |
| Office: | Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court |
| Term Start: | January 1, 2017 |
| Term End: | July 31, 2024 |
| Predecessor: | Costa M. Pleicones |
| Successor: | John W. Kittredge |
| Office1: | Associate Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court |
| Term Start1: | May 23, 2007 |
| Term End1: | December 21, 2016 |
| Predecessor1: | E. C. Burnett III |
| Successor1: | George C. James |
| Office2: | Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 31st district |
| Term Start2: | January 1991 |
| Term End2: | January 1995 |
| Predecessor2: | Tee Ferguson |
| Successor2: | Brenda Lee |
| Birth Name: | Donald Wayne Beatty |
| Birth Date: | 29 April 1952 |
| Birth Place: | Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Education: | South Carolina State University (BA) University of South Carolina, Columbia (JD) |
Donald Wayne Beatty (born April 29, 1952) is a former chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court and a former South Carolina state court judge and state representative.[1]
Beatty was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina on April 29, 1952 to Arthur and Ruth Beatty. He graduated from South Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974, and University of South Carolina with a Juris Doctor degree in 1979. [2] Beatty married Angela D. Chestnut on February 23, 1985. They have three children.
Beatty served as a member of the Spartanburg city council from 1988 to 1990, and served two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1991 to 1994 representing the 31st district.
Beatty was elected to a seat on the South Carolina Supreme Court on May 23, 2007, to replace Justice E. C. Burnett, III.[3] He became the court's Chief Justice on January 1, 2017 after being elected to fill the vacancy caused by the mandatory retirement of Chief Justice Costa M. Pleicones.
On February 25, 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Beatty to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, to the seat vacated by Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, who assumed senior status on October 3, 2013.[4] On June 21, 2016, a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee was held on his nomination.[5] On July 14, 2016, his nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote.[6] His nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the 114th Congress.
In 2024, Beatty turned 72 years old, which is the mandatory retirement age for judges in South Carolina. As a result, he retired on July 31, 2024, and will be replaced as Chief Justice by Judge John W. Kittredge. On June 5, 2024, the South Carolina General Assembly elected Letitia Verdin to replace Kittredge; she was the only candidate still running for Kittredge's seat after two others had dropped out. Beatty's replacement by Verdin changes the South Carolina Supreme Court from having only male judges to having only white judges.[7] [8]
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