Recent editorials from South Carolina newspapers:
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Nov. 9
The Post and Courier of Charleston on the Charleston School of Law’s poor performance on the July state bar exam:
The Charleston School of Law’s poor performance on the July state bar exam is discouraging, but it is not a reason to doubt the school’s value to the community.
The two tumultuous years from 2013 to 2015 when InfiLaw was attempting to take over CSOL are likely partly to blame. Some gifted students who were unhappy with the prospect of attending an InfiLaw school withdrew their acceptance letters and matriculated elsewhere. Applications and enrollment both dropped.
Further, this spring’s graduates took the Uniform Bar Examination that is being used in South Carolina for the first time this year. The standardized test is accepted in 26 states and Washington, D.C. Unlike the bar exam previously administered in the state, UBE requires test-takers to draft motions for hypothetical cases and answer some questions in essay form.
There is good reason to expect CSOL performance to rebound. In 2013, more than 75 percent of graduates passed a bar exam either in South Carolina or in another state. And 90 percent of CSOL graduates ultimately pass a bar exam, if not on the first try then on a subsequent one.
Applications and admission numbers have increased significantly, and the administration appears to be stable. Indeed, Princeton Review ranked CSOL professors the 10th best among law schools in the country.
Meanwhile, CSOL has hired an assistant dean for academic and bar success. Dyann Margolis has worked for BARBRI Group, which is a test prep organization.
The local legal community made it clear during the InfiLaw dealings that it values CSOL as an asset. Indeed, some offered legal and financial help to ensure that InfiLaw didn’t take over CSOL. InfiLaw operates for-profit law schools in Phoenix and Jacksonville. Its Charlotte school closed Aug. 11.
Ironically, a concern of students and members of the community was that InfiLaw schools had low passing rates for bar exams. But CSOL’s current rate is not pretty. In fact, CSOL’s 44 percent pass rate looks particularly dreary when compared to the University of South Carolina’s law school in Columbia. It had a 76 percent pass rate.
All the more reason for the professors of the Charleston School of Law, with administrative and admissions woes behind them, and the students (incidentally, Princeton Review ranked CSOL students’ quality of life as 4th in the nation) to turn things around and see that graduates are prepared to pass the bar.
As the Lowcountry continues to attract new business and industry, the demand for employees with post-graduate degrees, including juris doctor degrees, will increase. Well-educated CSOL graduates are an important part of that equation.
Online: http://www.postandcourier.com/
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Nov. 12
The Times & Democrat of Orangeburg on animal cruelty cases in South Carolina:
In 2016, the FBI started to track animal cruelty, including neglect, torture and sexual abuse, because of disturbing connections between abuse and killing of animals and dong the same to humans.
Writing for theconversation.com, Jessica Rubin of the Animal Legal Defense Fund and an assistant clinical professor of law at the University of Connecticut, states the evidence is more than anecdotal. Researchers like psychologists Randall Lockwood and Frank R. Ascione have determined that people who abuse animals may move on to hurting people.
By vigorously prosecuting animal cruelty cases, the justice system could potentially help stave off violent crimes against people, Rubin writes. But these animal cruelty offenses often get short shrift in state courts.
Rubin notes that courts and prosecutors often have more cases involving crimes against people than they can handle. So cases of animal cruelty are dismissed or defendants are given probationary sentences - leaving no record of the offenses.
In South Carolina, that may be about to change with a package of animal welfare reforms drawn up by a group of state officials and animal-rights activists and approved by a panel of state senators. The proposals are headed for the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in January.
Dog-tethering would be prevented for the first time, and pronged or “choke” collars would be banned.
At present, law enforcement cannot take action against owners who leave their dogs tied up outside unless officers decide the tethering constitutes “animal cruelty.” The change would require that any dog tied up and unsupervised for more than an hour must have food, water, shelter and at least 100 square feet of “useable space.”
Importantly, the Senate proposal also includes more training for local magistrates on handling animal-cruelty issues - because tougher laws on animal cruelty will do little if law enforcement and the judiciary do not take them seriously.
Toward cases being treated seriously, Connecticut offers a model.
Writing in the article titled “How Dogs and Cats Can Get Their Day in Court,” Rubin said Desmond’s Law enacted in 2016 creates a program that allows courts to appoint supervised law students or lawyers to serve as volunteer advocates for animals in cruelty cases. The legal experts represent the interests of animals and justice, mirroring a practice that is already standard for children who have been abused or killed.
“Advocates research police and veterinary records, interview experts and present recommendations to courts regarding intermediate and final issues in cruelty cases. They aim to ensure that courts consider and protect animal interests,” Rubin writes. Volunteers track cruelty cases in the state and attend court hearings.
The first case to use Desmond’s Law involved a defendant accused of engaging in dogfighting, Rubin notes. Lacking a record of prior convictions, he was eligible to apply for an accelerated rehabilitation program through which a defendant complying with court conditions and not committing additional offenses may have charges dismissed.
A student under Rubin’s supervision argued that the defendant should not be eligible for the accelerated rehabilitation program because the crime of which he was accused was serious and likely to recur.
A Connecticut judge allowed the defendant to use the program but was receptive to imposing conditions on the defendant’s probationary two-year program term. For example, he may not have any contact with animals and must undergo a psychological assessment.
South Carolina may not be ready to implement its own version of Desmond’s Law but such an approach should be considered. It would be a way to give legal advocates for animals standing to do more than speak loudly in the public arena - a could be a factor in putting a stop to violence against humans later.
Online: http://thetandd.com/
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Nov. 12
The Index-Journal of Greenwood on the death of an educator:
He could have wound up just about anywhere - anywhere he wished, really - but Larry Jackson came to Greenwood by way of then-Lander College in 1973 and came to make this his home ever since then.
Jackson, who served as Lander’s president for 19 years, died the night of Nov. 7 at the age of 92. He came to the campus in 1973 as the school’s ninth president and retired in 1992.
South Carolina was Jackson’s home state. He and identical twin brother Rhett were born in Florence. His brother, a longtime religious and civic leader who owned a bookstore in Columbia, died last May.
Twins often share more than their resemblance to each other. Their passions and avocations often overlap. So too was the case with the Jackson twins.
Like his brother, Larry Jackson was an avid reader with an appetite for knowledge in general and a passion for religious studies. His collegiate studies carved a rich and winding path long before it brought him to Greenwood and Lander: He was a history and political science major at Wofford College, an ethics major at Union Theological Seminary in New York where he received a Master of Divinity and comparative education major at University of the Pacific where, in 1972, he received another master’s degree.
Service seems to have been Larry Jackson’s calling.
He served his country in the Air Force during World War II and was awarded an Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters before being discharged with the rank of first lieutenant.
Spiritual service was equally important. Jackson served six years as a minister, two of which were spent at the American Church in Santiago, Chile.
Ultimately, serving others in the education arena is where the longest leg of Jackson’s career path was woven. While in Santiago he was the director of Santiago College, an English-language school that served Chilean children and others in the international community living there.
He returned to the U.S. in 1964 and served as provost of Callison College, University of the Pacific, in Stockton, California until 1970. From there, he began his trek back to his home state with a three-year stopover at University of Evansville in Indiana as vice president for administration before coming to Lander.
Larry Jackson nourished his own mind and spirit as he did the same for others in his various service capacities, but service was not limited to paying jobs by any means. His resume reflects a healthy outpouring of service to his community in many capacities and organizations, from civic clubs such as Rotary to the United Way, from child-centered organizations such as the state Alliance for Children to the Greenwood Community Children’s Center.
And he graciously gave of his time in service to education, having served on a number of foundations and boards, to include the Governor’s School for Mathematics and Science in Hartsville, Society for Values in Higher Education and more.
Yes, one can see that a storied and interesting path that began Feb. 7, 1925 in Florence, South Carolina and ended Nov. 7, 2017 in Greenwood, South Carolina could just as easily have ended nearly anywhere in the nation or world.
Many, many lives were touched in such positive ways by Larry Jackson, but we would do well to celebrate his life by acknowledging how fortunate Greenwood is, how fortunate many students and employees of Lander are because his life’s journey brought him back to his home state.
Larry Jackson lived a full life of service to others, dedication to learning and spiritual growth and, not least of all, dedication and devotion to his wife, Barbara, and their four children.
Online: http://www.indexjournal.com/
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