Black lawmakers in South Carolina say they are disappointed but not surprised that every one of the two-dozen judges elected by the Legislature earlier this month are white.

The state court system is run by Chief Justice Don Beatty, who is Black. One of nine judges is Black on the next highest court, the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Of the 61 judges on the supreme, appeals or circuit courts in South Carolina, nine are Black, or 15% of them in a state where 27% of the population is Black, the Post and Courier of Charleston reported.