A large fire has destroyed the beachfront home of a South Carolina judge who had reportedly received death threats, with three family members taken to hospital. The blaze erupted on Saturday at the three-storey property in a gated community on Edisto Beach, Colleton County.
State investigators said on Monday that there was currently no evidence the fire was deliberately set. A spokesperson for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) confirmed an active investigation. SLED chief Mark Keel said preliminary findings indicated no pre-fire explosion, contrary to a suggestion by state Chief Justice John Kittredge that the blaze had been caused by an explosion.
The judge, Diane Goodstein, who is 69 and has served on the state bench since 1989, was walking her dogs when the fire started. Her husband, former state senator Arnold Goodstein, and their son, Arnold Goodstein II, were among those treated in hospital after leaping from the building. Goodstein recently issued a temporary injunction blocking the release of the state's voter files to the Trump administration's Justice Department, a decision later reversed by the state Supreme Court. The move was criticised by a Justice Department official.
The incident has raised questions about politically motivated violence, though authorities have not linked the fire to any such cause. It comes amid a series of attacks on public officials, including the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the firebombing of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home. In a separate development, more than 150 federal and state judges wrote to US Attorney General Pam Bondi in May condemning "retaliatory attacks aimed at intimidating the judiciary".
Nancy Gertner, a former federal judge and Harvard professor, said judges were worried about their own safety, citing inflammatory comments by public officials. However, a September study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that while leftwing terrorism had increased from very low levels, it remained far lower than historical levels of rightwing and jihadist violence.
