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Category Archives: DUI / DWI Defense

DUI case points to another problem with South Carolina law

Editorial from The Post and Courier, July 26, 2021 The most obvious thing to say about Charleston City Councilman Harry Griffin’s driving under the influence charge that was dropped last week is that he wasn’t exonerated. Whether he was a lucky DUI lottery winner or was unfairly stripped of the right to prove his innocence is something we’ll… Read More »

SC cops call for more funding, support to address training

BY GREGORY YEE, POST AND COURIER Faced with high turnover, funding challenges and lack of consistent standards, South Carolina’s cops are asking state legislators for help. Law enforcement officials from around the Palmetto State addressed the lawmakers in an hourslong hearing on Tuesday, where they laid out major challenges facing their profession. Their biggest points: A… Read More »

Police training in South Carolina is dangerously deficient

By Seth w. Stoughton and Geoffrey P. Alpert Officer Jackson Winkeler was fatally shot Jan. 5 while conducting a traffic stop. Winkeler had not been trained on traffic stops. In fact, he had very limited training. In South Carolina, someone can serve as an officer before attending the police academy. This is unacceptable. Untrained and undertrained… Read More »

Baffling antiquated laws still on SC’s books

By Fleming Smith, Post and Courier If you consider yourself a law-abiding citizen, you might want to check South Carolina’s code of laws again. Despite attempts by legislators to repeal some of the state’s more outdated laws, many holdouts from the 20th and even 19th centuries mean a person could be breaking the law weekly or… Read More »

Lawmaker seeks overhaul of magistrate system in SC

By Joseph Cranney, Post and Courier COLUMBIA — A South Carolina lawmaker is proposing the most sweeping changes in two decades to the state’s magistrate system after an investigation by The Post and Courier and ProPublica exposed how politics and flawed oversight provided fertile ground for incompetence and corruption on the bench. The legislation filed Wednesday… Read More »

Lawmaker seeks scrutiny for judicial panels

By Adam Benson, Post and Courier COLUMBIA — An Upstate lawmaker wants more scrutiny of two judicial oversight panels that largely declined to take any action against the state’s circuit judges over two decades despite more than 1,000 formal complaints. The request from Rep. Tommy Stringer, a Greer Republican, targets the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, which… Read More »

Hemp farmer gets an initial win in court

By Thomas Novelly, Post and Courie A Dorchester County hemp farmer who was arrested by law enforcement earlier this year after they destroyed his crops has won an initial victory in court. John Pendarvis, a Harleyville resident, had 10 acres of hemp destroyed by State Law Enforcement Division agents in September. He had a license to… Read More »

Public Safety inquiry over arrest interference prompts concerns

By Adam Benson, Post and Courier COLUMBIA — An internal state Department of Public Safety report this month concluded a retired Highway Patrol administrator interfered in the 2014 arrest of a prominent Clemson booster, which lawmakers cite as an example of the culture that contributed to the impending departure of embattled Director Leroy Smith. “I think… Read More »

Civil asset forfeitures violate SC and US constitutions, Horry judge rules

By David Slade, The Post and Courier In a stunning and strongly worded ruling, an Horry County judge declared South Carolina’s civil asset forfeiture laws violate both the state and federal constitutions. The decision sets the stage for court challenges and potentially a rewriting of state laws that allow police to seize cash, cars and other… Read More »

SC ‘sovereign citizen’ rejects delusional outlaw world, gets mercy from federal judge

By John Monk, The Stat Back in January, when he was arrested by the FBI, nothing could convince Arthur Cropp that his self-proclaimed status as a “sovereign citizen” didn’t allow him to peddle fraudulent money orders as if they were real. But during the last 10 months, which he spent in jail, Cropp, 31, of the… Read More »