by Pat Shannan
In 1952, Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly starred in a Hollywood Classic where a single man faced a returning deadly group of criminals at High Noon and the whole town turned its back and refused to help.
At noon this Tuesday, 2/25/14, following fourteen years of frustrating litigation where evidence was never allowed to be presented publicly, two members of a group of judicial criminals involved in statewide public corruption are scheduled to face off with their protagonist in a court of law in Richland County Courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina.
But the indefatigable plaintiff, Jim Spencer, can never be sure just what “legal” sidetrack avenue of avoidance these legal manipulators will take next. Any mob that would kidnap a man’s 90+year-old mother and secret her in a state facility as ransom until he dropped his lawsuit cannot be predicted.
At stake is the reevaluation of the truth of how public officials in South Carolina ruined the lives of members of seven families through continuing acts of public corruption involving local law enforcement, Republican United States Senator Lindsay Graham, the head of South Carolina Law Enforcement Mark Keel, and Federal District Judge R. Bryan Harwell, among others.
“The only question is if the presiding State Circuit Court Judge, Doyet A. Early, III, cares about the truth and his oath of office and will finally require testimony by two participants to go on record in the public corruption case,” says legal counsel Fred Whitehurst. “This means that he will need to face facts and ignore the same public corruption that has cost the life of Mr. Spencer’s mother, his reputation and career. The facts and history of the case should continue to influence the judge enough to allow rather than prevent the questioning once more.”
After fourteen years of fighting to expose the reality of the situation is best summed up in a quote from Gary Cooper in that old time movie classic “High Noon”: “People have got to talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it, maybe because down deep they don’t care, they just don’t care.” Do the citizens of South Carolina care or do they simply not care, that question will once again be addressed.
On Tuesday at High Noon, in Richland County Court, Judge Early will either show he cares or he will turn his back on both the law, and basic moral principles.
Having followed this case for much of the fourteen years, this editor has seen so many others in public office and on the judicial bench prior to Judge Early display their hypocrisy and cowardice, we have become dubious as to whether he or any other will show that they really do care about truth and justice. Any court watcher knows that it is better for the judges and prosecutors personally to go along with the system of public corruption than to expose the truth to the light of public scrutiny and risk a shortened career. You shall not pervert judgment…nor take a bribe; for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise… -(Deuteronomy 16:19)
Hmmm. So it’s February 25th, huh? That just may be a good omen. It happens to be the 50thanniversary of a date that I remember well. It was the night that an 8-1 longshot by the name of Cassius Clay peppered the “Ugly Bear” Sonny Liston with so many potshots that the reigning champion failed to answer the eighth round and a new heavyweight champion of the world was crowned. I saw it live and remember it well – especially and particularly because I bet on the wrong side when one of my associates predicted Clay would win and gave me Liston even. That was good enough for me. I liked the odds but lost my ten bucks anyway, and I never bet against Clay again, regardless of what his name was.
So longtime beaten and maligned Jim Spencer has at least two historical underdog heroes going before him, Gary Cooper and Mohammed Ali; and if either of them was aware of the situation, they would – without a doubt – be pulling for him right now.
So are we. We will let you know the outcome. Considering the history, 8 to 1 odds may be way too short in this one and brings to mind another appropriate quote from a 1985 (or so) film called “Star Chamber.” Therein the old judge (Hal Holbrook) tells the young and ambitious but naïve lawyer (Michael Douglas), “Son, you just don’t understand. Justice has been kidnapped and hidden somewhere in the law.”
And in the words of the words of the late, great Gary Cooper, we would add, “Yup.”
We have recognized and reported it for about thirty years now. Dang right, Man, we have even experienced it personally a few times. Justice is hidden somewhere in the law, for sure, but sometimes it will surface in spite of the opposition.
Yup, we will keep you abreast of the situation later this week.