An inferno struck the $1.5 million home of a South Carolina judge who recently issued a high-profile ruling, raising questions about whether the fire was set intentionally.

Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein, 69, whose suburban mansion sprawls across a section of beachfront property, was walking her dog at approximately 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning, when she returned home to find it in flames. Goodstein lives in the Jeremy Cay, a luxury gated community on Edisto Island.

As the flames quickly consumed lower levels of the mansion, husband Arnold Goodstein, 81, and other members of the family were forced upstairs as they desperately sought out an escape. Rescuers later found them in a boggy marshland surrounding the property.

South Carolina Chief Justice John Kittredge, a colleague of Goodstein, stated that investigators have determined an “apparent explosion” preceded the fire.

“Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started,” he said. “Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony. I’m told there were injuries from the fall, such as broken legs.

“Arnie’s injuries may have been the most serious, for he was airlifted to the hospital.”

Arnold Goodstein, a Democrat, served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973 and in the state Senate from 1969 to 1970 and again from 1975 to 1979.

The couple’s adult son, Arnold Goodstein III, was also taken to an area hospital for injuries sustained during the escape.

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The four-bedroom, four-bath property, valued at $1.55 million, is a total loss, according to The Independent.

A spokesperson for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, and arson has not been ruled out.

The blaze comes one month after Judge Goodstein ruled against the Trump administration in a case weighing whether officials may receive sensitive voter records. The U.S. Justice Department had sued South Carolina seeking information on 3.3 million voters, including their names, addresses, birthdates, driver’s license numbers, and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

Obtaining the voter registration records was part of an administrative undertaking to cross-reference them with data on known illegal immigrants who may have voted in local and federal elections.

The Sept. 2 ruling saw Judge Goodstein receive death threats for opposing an effort endorsed by South Carolina’s Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who said the court was “wrong” to interfere with a federal effort and filed an emergency appeal to overturn the ruling.

The South Carolina Supreme Court later sided with Gov. McMaster, overturning Goodstein’s decision and concluding she failed to clarify what harm the plaintiff, local voting rights activist Anne Crook, would suffer as a result of the data handover.

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, 2025-10-06 13:46:00, , Trending Politics Conservative Breaking News and Commentary, %%https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cropped-tp-fav-2-32×32.png, https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/feed/, Mark Steffen