SC ATTORNEY GENERAL ONLY 39TH HIGHEST PAID IN US

There was an interesting little tidbit that came across the Legal Newsline Monday discussing the salaries of state attorneys general.

Surprisingly, South Carolina’s Henry McMaster only comes in 39th overall at $92,007 per year, far behind neighboring Georgia and North Carolina — which came in 11th and 16th, respectively.

Jerry Brown of California leads all other AGs with staggering $184,301 annual salary.

Oddly enough, second place went to Alabama, which pays Troy King $163,744 yearly. That’s because, despite having one of the lowest per capita income levels in the country, sets King’s salary by law to match the Alabama Supreme Court associate justices’ salaries.

New York, Tennessee, Washington, Illinois, Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware rounded out the top 10.

SC AG SIGNED AMICUS BRIEF TO SCOTUS RE: DC GUN BAN

The U.S. Supreme Court’s substantial 5-4 decision today that the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns is a violation of the rights granted by the Second Amendment was a major victory for South Carolina and Attorney General Henry McMaster, who signed an amicus brief in February.

“A strong Second Amendment is essential to our freedom,” McMaster said. “It is comforting that our highest court reaffirmed that right so clearly today.”

McMaster joined with 30 other attorneys general from around the country in the brief submitted to the United States Supreme Court in the matter of the District of Columbia v. Dick Anthony Heller.

The brief, submitted in February, urged the Court to affirm the judgment of the court of appeals, that held the gun ban violated Heller’s right under the U.S. Constitution to own a handgun or firearm for private use in his home.

This ruling marks the first time in American history that the nation’s highest court has ruled on the Second Amendment.

And the ruling will likely play into this year’s presidential election, noted State GOP Chairman Katon Dawson.

“[W]e know John McCain will appoint strict constructionist judges like those who declared today that law-abiding Americans have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” said Dawson. “Barack Obama has fought for strict gun control for years. As president he would not only have liberal anti-gun allies rubber stamping his legislation on Capitol Hill, he would also have the power to appoint activist anti-gun judges who would expand the role of the courts and impose their personal political will on democratically-elected legislative bodies.”

Congressman Joe Wilson called the decision, “a strong example of the need to support the appointment of jurists who will stand up for the principles of freedom our forefathers enumerated in the Constitution.”

Wilson noted the decrease in violent crimes in South Carolina following the passage of a concealed weapons law and said, “Now that the residents of Washington, D.C. have their constitutional rights restored, families can once again protect themselves and their property.”

TEAM TOMPKINS ONCE AGAIN DOING BATTLE WITH THE TRUTH

The guys over at First Tuesday Strategies (pictured on the cover of their 1994 album “Turn it Upside Down” above) have put together a little “Consultant Roundup” in the hopes of playing up their “big wins” in this year’s primary elections. It was a clever little idea that put their success rate at 90 percent while showing all of the other firms at 50 percent or worse.

The problem is, they flat-out ignored at least one huge race they lost, while giving themselves loads of credit for mostly token victories by incumbents facing only light opposition. The truth is, they lost their two biggest races.

If other firms took the First Tuesday approach and only ran incumbents bankrolled by huge special interests running against an easy challenger, then they too would be successful 80 percent of the time — probably more.

First Tuesdays also deceitfully left off races that other firms won.

Here’s how it really breaks down: (continues…)

WILSON RELEASES FIRST AD IN FIERY FIGHT FOR SOLICITOR SEAT

I would venture to guess that four out of five people couldn’t tell you what a solicitor does, but this showdown in the ninth circuit definitely has people interested as is gets very heated — and quite expensive.

Exactly a week after challenger Blair Jennings took to television with a 30-second ad that likely set him back a few dozen thousand bucks and could only be described as a ringing endorsement for little white lies, incumbent Scarlett Wilson has launched one of her own.

Besides sticking to the truth, the most noticeable difference in Wilson’s ad is that they actually put her on camera. And with a well spoken, attractive candidate (no offense, Blair) with a pretty solid record, it’s obvious why they did.

If this back and forth keeps up between these two, and I’m guessing it will only get more intense for the final three weeks of the race, they’re going to burn through a very hefty pile of cash.

JENNINGS HAS HARD TIME TELLING TRUTH IN CAMPAIGN SPOT

Political ads certainly have a propensity for taking a little liberty with the truth. But there is a big difference between embellishing and deceiving voters.

Take for example Blair Jennings, who is challenging 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson in a very heated Lowcountry GOP primary. He is the first to take to television airwaves with a 30-second spot titled “Tough.”

Unfortunately, the only thing “tough” about this ad is the love it garnered Jennings from the Charleston Post and Courier when they went through and debunked some of the untruthful claims in the ad.

“Jennings has put some of our area’s worst criminals in prison, convicting over 60 homicide cases,” the narrator says. “The only candidate to successfully prosecute a death penalty case, convicting cop killer Jesse Sapp.”

But in reality, the newspaper claims, those “60 homicides” include a large number of wrongful criminal deaths, felony DUI deaths and manslaughter.

“His use of the phrase ‘60 homicide convictions’ leaves viewers with the impression that he took that many to trial,” Wilson said. “When most were guilty pleas that never went to a jury.”

Jennings also says he is the only candidate to successfully prosecute a death penalty case.

The Post and Courier notes the problems here are: 1. he only helped late Solicitor Ralph Hoisington prosecute a 2003 in which the jury awarded the death penalty; 2. Wilson worked with Hoisington on a 2000 death penalty case in which the jury recommended a sentence of life in prison; 3. Wilson currently has three death penalty cases on the docket, two of which are scheduled for trial this fall.

I think the only thing that is truthful about this ad is the “Paid for by Blair Jennings” tag at the bottom. And for all I know, that may not even be true.

INTERNET PREDATOR TASK FORCE A MODEL FOR SUCCESS, GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE SAYS

At a campaign stop in Rochester, Mich. Wednesday, Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain told supporters that combating child pornography, abuse and exploitation in any form will be a key priority of his administration and that he will make sure it is punished to the maximum extent of the law.

McCain specifically cited Attorney General Henry McMaster’s overwhelmingly successful work on the issue as a model for what should be implemented at the federal level.

“Just last month, for example, [McMaster] announced that the state’s SC Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force had arrested its one hundred and twenty first child predator,” McCain said. “Aided with funding from the Justice Department, the South Carolina task force has made significant progress in tracking down, arresting and prosecuting child predators in South Carolina.

“Such federal, state and local cooperation is a model for success that we must build on because, sadly, across our nation crimes against our children continue to rise. This is an abomination, and I am firmly resolved to fighting these crimes with all the means at our country’s disposal.”

I’m guessing that activist liberal judge J. Mark Hayes, who tried to shut down the ICAC task force last August and recently sentenced a 19-year-old to two centuries in prison for robbery and burglary, won’t be attending McCain’s fundraiser on Friday.

And yes, I totally realize I just plugged three of my own posts in one sentence. I’m incredible like that.

ACTIVIST JUDGE MARK HAYES SENTENCES SPARTANBURG TEEN TO TWO CENTURIES IN PRISON FOR ROBBERY, BURGLARY

I’m not exactly a Constitutional law scholar, but I’m pretty sure that sentencing a 19-year-old kid to nearly 200 years in prison for a couple of robbery and burglary charges might not gel so well with the Eighth Amendment.

So I’m guessing Cory Demond Linder, who sentenced to 196 years behind bars after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree burglary, one count of second-degree burglary, two counts of armed robbery and one count of possession of a pistol during a violent crime, will have a pretty good case for a reduced sentence when his case is appealed.

[Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette] said Circuit Judge J. Mark Hayes II sentenced Linder to three 40-year sentences on the first degree burglary charges, two 30-year sentences for the armed robbery charges, a 15-year sentence for the second-degree burglary charge and another year-long sentence on the possession charge.

“The sentence should send a message to all criminals that this type of criminal activity will not be tolerated in Spartanburg County,” Barnette said.

Linder’s sentences will run consecutively and must serve 85 percent of the sentence before he is eligible for release, Barnette said. [Fox Carolina]

According to all the lawyer shows I watch on TV, when someone pleads guilty they are given some leniency. I bet if this kid had plead not guilty and been convicted, Hayes would have probably sent him to a flooded gas chamber with man-eating sharks, piranhas, crocodiles, water moccasins and the bird flu.

But on the upside, if this sentence isn’t reduced and he doesn’t get any time off for good behavior, Linder will get out of prison in the year 2204, which will be only a decade or so after the Genetic Plague kills 99.9 percent of the male human population on Earth and its off-world colonies, if the webcomic Angels 2200 is to be believed.

The craziest part of all this though, is that Hayes is the same activist judge who tried to shut down Attorney General Henry McMaster’s Internet Crimes Against Children last August. This guy must really, really hate kids.

STUDY FINDS DRUNK SMOKERS WILL DRIVE TO FIND NON-SMOKE-FREE BARS

The recently-upheld smoking ban in the city of Greenville could mean drivers in that area should stay off the roads after dark, if a new study conducted in part by a University of South Carolina researcher is accurate. USC’s Chad Cotti and Scott Adams of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee found that smoking bans are directly connected to increases in alcohol-related traffic deaths.

And if a study finds it to be true, it automatically becomes unquestionable fact. Here’s what Reason Magazine said because I didn’t feel like reading through some academic mumbo-jumbo:

“We observe an increase in fatal accidents involving alcohol following bans on smoking in bars that is not observed in places without bans,” the researchers report. They surmise that drinkers respond to bans by driving further to find bars where they’re allowed to light up, either because the bars are in a different jurisdiction or because they have outdoor seating. That means more time on the road in a less-than-sober condition.

Personally, I’ve never agreed with smoking bans in bars anyway. It’s like the two were made for each other.

I mean, I think we can all agree that, with the exception of Jesus, Humphrey Bogart was probably the coolest person to ever live. And I dare you to name a time when he wasn’t smoking cigarettes and drinking liquor.

I’m not saying those two things will make you healthy — Bogart did die at 57. But if the study is true, let the smokers have their way.