Crash the system
“The system of mass incarceration depends almost entirely on the cooperation of those it seeks to control.” A NY Times opinion piece written by civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander speaks the truth...
View ArticleJim Preacher, again
I’ve written about Jim Preacher, Norway’s mayor and former chief of police in Norway and Ehrhardt, S.C. in the past, for example here where he made national news for getting a speeding ticket from a...
View ArticleAmerica’s slow creep towards becoming a police state
Steven Greenhut has a pretty good article at Reason.com titled “Are we sliding towards a police state?,” which focuses on the militarization of our police forces. I tell people on a regular basis, do...
View ArticleState representative charged with DUI and illegal weapon
S.C. Rep. Ted Vick was arrested early this morning and charged with driving under the influence and having a gun in his pocket without a valid concealed weapon permit. A unnamed female USC student was...
View ArticleFlorence mayoral candidate arrested in Myrtle Beach
Florence City Councilman Edward Robinson was arrested and charged with resisting arrest at a Food Lion in Myrtle Beach last month on April 10. According to the incident report, the police were called...
View ArticleCandidate for sheriff arrested for plot to kidnap retired circuit court judge
This is the week for political scandals I suppose. James Richard Bartee Jr., who was running for Sheriff in Oconee County, was arrested in court Wednesday and charged with solicitation to commit a...
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Cottageville S.C. police department stores their criminals in old freezers?
Get arrested in Cottageville, S.C., and your holding cell may look like this: Gotta love the warning: “TO AVOID SUFFICATING PRISONERS, PLEASE TURN ON VENTALATION FAN PRIOR TO CLOSING CELL DOOR.”...
View ArticleWhy are corporations acting as prosecutors in our criminal courts?
A few weeks ago I had to sit through a morning of bench trials in one of our local magistrate courts, waiting for the judge to get to my hearing on a motion to quash a warrant. Watching pro-se...
View ArticleWake up America
Immediately following the Boston Marathon bombing, the United States Constitution was suspended for all residents of Watertown, Massachusetts. An entire city was placed on “lockdown” as residents were...
View ArticleLeadership in government
The South Carolina House has passed a proposed bill that declares the Affordable Care Act null and void, and purports to criminalizes its implementation: TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,...
View ArticleChief Justice Race
In what was a hotly contested race, yesterday Chief Justice Toal was re-elected by the legislature as Chief Justice of the S.C. Supreme Court by a vote of 95 – 74. The vote tally can be found here.
View ArticleKaepernick, Advocacy, and Leadership
I feel like I should have written about this when it began, and I should have been writing about it every week since. I love football. I love the First Amendment. I love that a pro football player...
View ArticleManslaughter or Murder, What’s the Difference?
Betty Jo Shelby, the white Tulsa police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black motorist last week, was charged with first degree manslaughter by the DA’s office yesterday. Prosecutors have...
View ArticleWrongful Convictions – Unlocking the Truth
“Unlocking the Truth” is a show on MTV that is investigating the cases of three people who may have been wrongfully convicted. The show is co-hosted by Ryan Ferguson, who was exonerated after serving...
View ArticleTrump and the Supreme Court
Plenty of people are talking about what Trump’s election will mean for the United States Supreme Court – for example, is this the end of the road for abortion rights and gay rights? Trump’s picks for...
View ArticleTrump’s Gory Head – Did Kathy Griffin Commit a Crime?
Kathy Griffin’s decision to appear in a controversial photograph holding what looks like Donald Trump’s bloody, decapitated head has been nearly universally denounced by both sides of the political...
View ArticleIs Myrtle Beach’s Teen Curfew Effective?
Is any teen curfew effective? Most scientific studies that have been conducted, some decades ago, have concluded that teen curfews have no impact on crime rates or juvenile victimization. Even worse,...
View ArticleKershaw Kerfluffle and The Rule of Law
I feel compelled to join Fifth Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson’s rebuke of Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews’ recent attacks on Circuit Judge Alison Lee. Judge Lee gave a probationary sentence to a...
View ArticleHate Crimes are OK in South Carolina
I feel that this is a time when silence is equivalent to complicity. People who care keep asking, “what can I do?” You do what you can in the circumstances you find yourself in. What I can do is speak...
View ArticleDo We Need a Hate Crime Law to Protect Police Officers?
U.S. lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow prosecutors to charge anyone accused of violence against a police officer with a “hate crime.” Parroting the language used in federal laws...
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