Three people were hospitalized after a weekend fire destroyed the beachfront home of South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein and her husband, former Democratic state senator Arnold Goodstein, authorities said.
Arnold Goodstein was one of those injured, breaking multiple bones after leaping out a back window and into a marsh the home overlooked, USA Today reported. Family members credited him with making sure everyone else was evacuated before escaping himself. Their son, Arnold Goodstein II, was also severely injured. Information on their conditions was not divulged on Monday.
The fire broke out Saturday afternoon, sending multiple fire departments to the scene, the St. Paul’s Fire District said. The occupants had jumped from an elevated first floor at the back of the house and had to be rescued from the backyard via kayaks,” the district said in a statement.
Dramatic video showed flames engulfing and consuming the $1.1 million Edisto Island home, which is ringed with trees and abuts a marshy area. Judge Goodstein was walking her dog on the beach at the time, she told a neighbor who spoke to the Post and Courier.
Goodstein drew national attention last month when she temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s demand that the state hand over detailed voter information to the U.S. Department of Justice. The state Supreme Court later reversed the ruling, but not before a DOJ official criticized her publicly for issuing it.
AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins
Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein in 2014. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Social media murmurings tried to connect Goodstein’s ruling to the fire, but the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said it had yet to determine a cause and was investigating all potential origins.
That didn’t stop Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., from declaring the fire as arson and linking it to the anti-judicial rhetoric that has come from the White House criticizing judges who disagree with Trump administration policies, many of whom have been threatened.
South Carolina’s judicial branch planned to heighten security until the cause was known for sure, and said Monday there would be no more comment out of respect for the family’s privacy.
“Local law enforcement partners have been alerted and asked to provide extra patrols and security, the South Carolina Supreme Court said in a statement Saturday. “The Judicial Branch will remain in close communication with SLED.”
With News Wire Services
