South-Carolina

South Carolina is trading its all-male Supreme Court for an all-white one – The Boston Globe

Published

2 years ago

June 5, 2024

South Carolina is trading its all-male Supreme Court for an all-white one – The Boston Globe

“She will be an excellent Supreme Court justice. I’m glad we now have that diversity present,” said Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine, an African American Democrat who was a law school classmate of Verdin. “But we shouldn’t trade diversity. We need to take a look across the court system.”

History of diversity

Over the past 17 years — and all but seven years since 1984 — South Carolina has had a Black judge on its highest court. Either a woman or a Black man has been chief justice for all but one of the past 30 years.

Ernest Finney became the state’s first African American circuit judge since Reconstruction in 1976. Eight years later, civil rights leaders hailed his ascension to the state Supreme Court.

It showed Black people have a presence at every level of the state court system, even if sometimes Finney was invited to speak in his role as a justice at private clubs that refused to admit African Americans.

“Not only did he do the job excellently, he elevated the reputation of the court system,” said attorney I.S. Leevy Johnson, who became the first Black House member since Reconstruction in 1971 and went on to become the first Black leader of the South Carolina Bar the same year Finney joined the Supreme Court.

“He gave confidence in the system to people of color who historically — since well before Dred Scott — have had no need to feel any confidence,” Johnson added, referencing the U.S. Supreme Court’s infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision that declared African Americans could not be citizens.

A number of Black lawyers followed Finney’s path. They, too, have been reaching retirement age. Just 13% of the judges in the trial and appellate courts are Black in a state where 27% of the population is Black. Just one judge of color — a Black man is on the nine-judge state Court of Appeals, which is often the training ground for the Supreme Court.

“I never thought we would stop making progress, much less end up going backward,” Johnson said.

Lack of judges of color

South Carolina is joining 18 other states with all-white high courts, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks diversity and other issues in court systems.

Twelve of those states have minority populations of at least 20%, the organization reported.

But Verdin’s election will take South Carolina out of even more select company. The state Supreme Court was the only one in the country without a woman. The all-male court ruled 4-1 last year to uphold a ban on abortions starting at around six weeks after conception, before many women know they are pregnant. Beatty, the retiring chief justice, was the only vote against.

That decision came after the woman who wrote the majority opinion in a 3-2 ruling striking down a similar ban in 2023 retired because of her age. Lawmakers made minor tweaks in the law, enabling another high court review.

The court’s new chief justice promises a renewed push for more diversity on the court. But John Kittredge said only the General Assembly, where 118 of the 170 members are Republican, can ensure it happens.

Tilting conservative

General Assembly leaders have expressed concerns about the lack of diversity, although they also have expressed unhappiness with rulings on abortion, the death penalty, low bonds and lighter sentences in recent years.

Republican House Speaker Murrell Smith said this Supreme Court election will mean there are five “true, bona fide conservatives” on the court in a telephone town hall last month hosted by conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity.

A Democratic former lawmaker has led the state Supreme Court every year but one since 2000.

“So that will be a huge win for us,” Smith said according to the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

Demeaning screening

Devine doesn’t see one simple solution to making the courts more diverse. Some judges of color want to make more money in the private sector.

The senator said some also find the election process demeaning. It includes a screening that probes deep into a candidate’s background and finances, as well as having to wait around in a parking garage or just inside doorways to get a few minutes of time with legislators whose minds may already be made up.

“The system needs changing. It seems designed to humiliate people who don’t want to be humiliated,” Devine said.

Devine is happy for her law school friend Verdin, who received nearly unanimous praise for her abilities and demeanor in anonymous surveys when she signed up to run for the Supreme Court this year.

But Devine said a lot of attorneys of color don’t bother because they think the system is broken.

“This isn’t about quotas or affirmative action,” Devine said. ”This is about real people’s lives in South Carolina and about whether they have a judiciary that is fair and impartial and reflects the diversity of this state.”

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South-Carolina

Source: Lamont Paris returning to South Carolina next season

Published

2 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Source: Lamont Paris returning to South Carolina next season

NOTE: The above video is a livestream of WIS featuring current newscasts, Soda City Living and Gray Media’s Local News Live.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – Lamont Paris will remain the head coach for South Carolina men’s basketball next season.

A source confirmed to WIS that Paris will return for his fifth season at the helm.

The Gamecocks have gone 62-67 under Paris, which included an NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2023-24 season. In the two seasons since, however, South Carolina has gone 12-20 and 13-18, respectively.

Paris’s tenure has also included a 23-49 record against the SEC as of Tuesday.

The Gamecocks will face Oklahoma on Wednesday in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. The game will also be televised on the SEC Network.

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.

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Alexander brothers convicted of sex trafficking in Manhattan federal court

Published

15 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Alexander brothers convicted of sex trafficking in Manhattan federal court

NEW YORK — Three brothers, including two of the nation’s most successful luxury real estate brokers, were convicted of sex trafficking Monday after a five-week trial over accusations that they drugged and raped scores of women they had dazzled with their wealth and opulent lifestyle.

The verdict came after 11 women testified in Manhattan federal court they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers: twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39. All three shook their heads as the jury foreperson said “guilty” 19 straight times, a powerful reckoning that could put them behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Tal Alexander dropped his head into his crossed arms. Their stunned parents sat in the gallery behind them. Alon Alexander’s wife shielded her face with her hand and appeared to fight back tears.

Judge Valerie E. Caproni set sentencing for Aug. 6. The brothers, jailed since their 2024 arrests, will appeal the verdict, their lawyers said.

“We believe in our clients’ innocence and we’re not going to stop fighting until we prevail, and we believe that we will one day prevail,” defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said outside the courthouse.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton lauded the verdict as vindication for victims of crimes that often go unreported and unpunished.

“The truth is sex trafficking and other federal sex offenses are present in many walks of life and we have not done enough to root it out,” Clayton said in a statement.

Dozens of women say they were drugged and assaulted

The verdict represented a spectacular fall for Oren and Tal Alexander, once known as real estate’s “A Team” for their high-ticket sales and celebrity clientele. After smashing sales records at industry powerhouse Douglas Elliman, the brothers started their own firm. Alon Alexander ran their family’s private security company.

Victims testified that they met the brothers at nightclubs, parties and on dating apps, and were attacked after accepting their invitations to all-expense paid getaways to the Hamptons; Aspen, Colorado; and a Caribbean cruise. More than 60 women say they were raped by one or more of the brothers, according to prosecutors.

Defense lawyers suggested the accusers had faulty memories or were hoping to cash in on the brothers’ fortunes. The brothers were womanizers, their lawyers conceded. But they insisted any sex was consensual.

In addition to the top charges, Alon and Tal Alexander were also convicted of sex trafficking of a minor while Alon and Oren Alexander were convicted of aggravated sexual abuse by force or intoxicant and sexual abuse of a physically incapacitated person. Oren Alexander was also convicted of sexually exploiting a minor after prosecutors showed the jury a video he recorded of himself appearing to assault a drugged 17-year-old.

Lawsuits expose an open secret in the real estate world

Besides the criminal case, the brothers have faced about two dozen lawsuits over the last two years, including one filed last week in which Tracy Tutor, a star of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles,” alleges Oren Alexander drugged and assaulted her while she was in New York City for a real estate event.

When the first of the lawsuits were filed, multiple women came forward claiming they had also been assaulted, and that the brothers’ misconduct had been an open secret in the real estate world. The government took notice and opened a criminal case.

During the trial, many women who testified said they believed the brothers had spiked their drinks. Some described feeling like they’d lost control of their bodies.

One woman testified that she met the brothers in 2012 at a party at actor Zac Efron’s Manhattan apartment. She said she had almost no interaction with the actor, who was not accused of any misdeeds, and went to a nightclub later in the night before waking up naked with a nude Alon Alexander standing over her.

“I don’t want to have sex with you,” she testified telling him. “Haha, you already did,” she recalled him snapping back as he “laughed in my face.”

Testimony challenges claim that money drove allegations

Prosecutors pushed back against the idea that the accusers were hoping to cash in on lawsuits. Only two have lawsuits pending, prosecutor Elizabeth Espinosa told jurors, and both are wealthy.

One woman who testified said she was raped by Alon Alexander in Aspen, Colorado, in 2017, when she was 17. She said she was the daughter of a billionaire.

“I don’t want their money. I just don’t want them to have it,” she told jurors.

Lindsey Acree, an artist and gallery owner, testified she was raped by Tal Alexander and another man at a home in the Hamptons in 2011 after taking a drink that left her feeling paralyzed.

The woman said she sued last year even though she will “never need their money” because the Alexanders “kept calling us gold diggers, shake down artists, con artists.”

“If there’s a kid with a stick who keeps hitting people, you take their stick away,” she told the jury. “Money is their stick, so you take it away so they can’t hurt people anymore.”

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Acree and Tutor have done.

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Lulu Kesin of Greenville News wins writing awards for South Carolina basketball

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Lulu Kesin of Greenville News wins writing awards for South Carolina basketball

Lulu Kesin of the Greenville News was honored two times by the Associated Press Sports Editors in its annual sports journalism contest.

Sports editors and journalists throughout the country voted on top-10 placements in various writing, website, print newspaper and photography categories, which were split into four divisions based on newspaper circulation and digital readership size. The Greenville News is in the D Division.

The exact order of finish in the writing contests will be announced later.

Kesin was selected in the top 10 for beat writing and short feature.Kesin covers South Carolina’s athletic department with a focus on women’s basketball and football. Her work on the women’s basketball beat was honored in both categories, as she followed coach Dawn Staley’s journey to a second straight national championship game and fifth consecutive Final Four.Her short feature on Sania Feagin highlighted the then senior’s journey to an SEC Tournament title. Kesin spoke with Feagin’s mother fresh off the joyful win, capturing the emotional element to the day.She then dove into Staley’s timeout philosophy to learn more about one of the most successful coaches in college basketball through a fresh, new perspective.She rounded out her March Madness reporting with a story on a young fan whose life was changed by the women’s basketball team before Kesin broke the biggest women’s basketball transfer news of the offseason, reporting that star guard MiLaysia Fulwiley was going to leave the program before all other media outlets did.

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