by Joseph Cranney, The Post and Courier Nov. 27, 2019, 5 a.m. EST
This article was produced in partnership with The Post and Courier, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network
Welcome to the magistrate courts of South Carolina, where citizens often must fend for themselves before judges lacking formal training in the law and whose errors can result in punishing consequences for defendants.
These courtrooms, the busiest in the state, dispose of hundreds of thousands of misdemeanor criminal cases and civil disputes each year.
They are overseen by political appointees, selected through a process that often places connections over qualifications. It’s a system that’s unlike any other in the country, and one that has provided fertile ground for incompetence, corruption and other abuse, an investigation by The Post and Courier and ProPublica found.
Read article HERE and the series HERE.