Miscellaneous

Activist Judges

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Does a state court of last resort overstepping its bounds when it grants an injunction that will affect thousands of people in the jurisdiction? Can state courts hold up cases while federal measures that might affect them kick in? What if the petitioner only asked for an order affecting itself, but the court decided to broaden it to include all those affected?

Is this activist judging at its most egregious? Has the chief justice, a former legislator, forgotten where she is?

One of our favorite state court chiefs issued a temporary restraining order that will prevent over 5,000 South Carolina homes from being foreclosed upon before residents have a chance to take advantage of the new federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HMP).

While all states have dealt with the foreclosure crisis on some level, South Carolina is the first we've heard of to do this. The state has already seen its share of foreclosures -- unfortunately in this area, they were ahead of the country. Now they've found an interesting fix that pleases owners, taxpayers, and lenders alike.

Hug an activist judge!

See SC Court Halts Thousands of Home Foreclosure Sales, AP (May 5, 2009), and South Carolina Supreme Court Stays Foreclosures, Russ DeMott, DeMott Real Estate Blog (May 5, 2009).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on May 06, 2009 (boomark / email).