Two years after the United States Supreme Court reversed the South Carolina Supreme Court in Turner v. Rodgers, 131 S.Ct. 2507 (2011), I see no evidence that our family court system has taken any of Turner’s ruling to heart. This is partially the fault of our state Supreme Court, which has failed to exercise its [...]
Archive for the ‘Of Interest to General Public’ Category
(Im)perfectly P!nk
I consider myself lucky to have seen P!nk for the second time last month in Charlotte, this time from the center of the VIP mosh pit. Since P!nk is such a dynamic, acrobatic performer, as well as an incredible singer, being in the midst of her show was overwhelming. But one reason I’ve been a [...]
Will your adult children dread visiting you?
I attended a hearing yesterday in which two seemingly caring parents of teenagers were, perhaps unwittingly, doing their best to destroy the other’s relationship with these children. At the conclusion of the hearing the judge addressed the parties with advice that I had never heard before. I paraphrase: I am the father of adult children. [...]
Zero tolerance idiocracy
It’s dress up Friday at my daughter’s magnet school, in which students can ditch uniforms and come as their favorite novel character. My daughter’s dressing as Katniss from “The Hunger Games.” While she was walking out the door with her crossbow and quiver of rubber arrows, I reminded my wife of the school district’s zero [...]
Custody to the bigger breeder
Unbeknownst to me until last week, on December 2, 2012 the South Carolina Supreme Court denied certiorari in the case of Moeller v. Moeller, 394 S.C. 365, 714 S.E.2d 898 (Ct. App. 2011), thus enshrining into South Carolina appellate case law one of the stupidest bases to award (heck, reverse) custody that our appellate courts [...]
Presiding over the decline in the legal profession
Between my work as a volunteer attorney mentor, being asked by a Philippine attorney working on a book about legal career paths to describe mine, and being asked by South Carolina Lawyer’s Weekly “what do you tell young people who are considering a career in law?,” I have spent significant time the past few weeks [...]
Is habitual and flaunted jaywalking “conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice”
Recently South Carolina’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) has taken action against attorneys for their activities outside the context of actual cases if these acts are “conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.” Specifically, they are trying to discipline an attorney for vile blogging. Also recently, a New York Times article discussing United [...]