South Carolina Judge Diane Goodstein is a former county attorney who was elected to the bench in 1998. She is married to a former legislator and Department of Transportation official.
On October 6, Goodstein's beachfront home in Edisto Beach burned to the ground in a dramatic scene, leading to an investigation to determine the cause, which is currently not known. Her husband is Arnold Samuel Goodstein, according to her judicial bio.
According to the Post and Courier, the home is "surrounded by trees and a marshy area" that made it "difficult to rescue Goodstein’s husband, a former state senator, after he jumped out the back of the house to escape the blaze."
FITS News reported that the judge's son Arnold Goodstein II was among those injured. That site reported that the judge has had death threats over the years, but the cause of the fire is not yet clear, including whether there was foul play involved.
A neighbor, Tom Peterson, told the newspaper that Judge Goodstein "had been on the beach walking her dogs at the time her home caught fire. She informed him that her husband was injured and stranded in a marshy area behind the home." Goodstein's husband was rescued with a canoe and rope, according to the Post and Courier.
The South Carolina Supreme Court released a statement to WCSC-TV after the house fire: “Chief Justice John W. Kittredge is aware of an incident involving Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein. At this time, SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) is on the scene and will begin investigating as soon as the fire has been contained. Local law enforcement partners have been alerted and asked to provide extra patrols and security. The Judicial Branch will remain in close communication with SLED.”
FITS News quoted another message from Kittredge, who said the fire was from an “apparent explosion… that resulted in a fire that destroyed the home.”
“Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started,” Kittredge wrote, according to FITS News. “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,” Kittredge continued. Sources told FITS News the judge's husband "appeared to have sustained multiple broken bones in his hips, legs and feet following his fall."
WCSC-TV reported that three people were taken to the hospital with injuries, although their conditions and identities were not known.
Judge Diane Schafer Goodstein "was born in Dillon, South Carolina in 1955. She is the daughter of Joseph M. Schafer and Helen Schafer Mast," the judicial bio reads.
"She is married to Summerville attorney and former Member of the House of Representatives, South Carolina Senator, and Department of Transportation Commissioner Arnold Samuel Goodstein," it says. "They have two children, Arnold Samuel Goodstein, II and Eve Schafer Goodstein. They are members of the Charleston Temple Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE)."
Judge Goodstein "attended elementary and secondary schools in South Carolina and received her bachelors' degree in 1978 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She went on to obtain her Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1981," the bio continues.
She started her career as a lawyer in the 1980s for Goodstein, Bowling, Douglas & Phillips from 1981 to 1983. She shared a practice with her husband through 1998, when she became a county attorney for Dorchester County, the bio says.
"She is a former Board Member of the Greater Summerville Chamber of Commerce, Hospice of Charleston and My Sister's House. She was also a member of the South Carolina Bar Professional Responsibility Committee and a member of the Dorchester County Centennial Committee," it adds.
According to the bio, Goodstein was elected to be a judge in 1998. "She has since been appointed to the Circuit Court Judges Advisory Committee and is a member of the Commission on Judicial Conduct," the bio says, noting that she is a featured speaker at seminars.
According to Newsweek, Judge Goodstein "issued a ruling last month temporarily blocking South Carolina from handing over millions of voters’ personal data to the Trump administration." However, it's not clear whether that bore any connection to the fire at this point.
The "state’s Republican Governor Henry McMaster and DOJ official Harmeet Dhillon criticized the ruling," wrote Newsweek. The house fire led to a war of words on social media between White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and New York Rep. Daniel Goldman as a result of that ruling, although, again, the cause of the blaze is not yet clear.