J.C. Nicholson

Julius Carnes "J. C." Nicholson Jr. (born 1942) is an American judge who sits on the South Carolina Circuit Court.

Early life Nicholson was born in Birmingham, Alabama, to parents Frances E. and Julius Carnes Nicholson Sr. After attending The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, he entered the United States Air Force, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He spent four years in the Air Force, and went on to the University of South Carolina School of Law. He retired officially in 2009; however, after retirement, he continued to work for the court system as a part-time circuit judge. He stated in a newspaper interview at the time, "I am 66. It's time to slow down. But I don't think you can go from doing this full-time to suddenly just stopping altogether."

Prosecutors criticized Nicholson's ruling and indicated their intent to appeal, as it also affected two other outstanding cases. However, a Salon column by Jenny Kutner disagreed with Nicholson's reading of the law, noting that the "presumption of fear" required for a use of deadly force to be found lawful did not apply within the home; Kutner stated that Jones' case instead demonstrated the need for South Carolina to pass new laws which protected survivors of domestic violence.

2015 Charleston church shooting

In 2015, Nicholson was assigned as presiding judge for the trial of Dylann Roof, who is charged with committing the Charleston church shooting on June 17 that year. Nicholson set Roof's trial date for July 11, 2016. Nicholson's gag order in the case, forbidding the release of photographs of victims and recordings of 9-1-1 calls under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, has been challenged by news media, while survivors and victims' families have spoken in favor of maintaining it. A hearing on the gag order will be held at an indeterminate date in the future. Nicholson has also ordered Roof to provide handwriting samples to verify whether he wrote notes that "contain evidence of guilt and motive".

Family Nicholson has four children and nine grandchildren.