In South Carolina, “cockfighting” is a felony.
Stamping out domestic violence doesn’t seem to be much of a priority there, however. Domestic violence is only a misdemeanor.
For which the county hired one lawyer 4 months ago to prosecute criminal domestic violence cases in county court.
But the county hasn’t assigned her a courtroom, so she hasn’t gotten down to business yet. That’s because other misdemeanors are currently handled town by town in Charleston County.
And Charleston County officials don’t think domestic violence cases merit any different or special handling.
They apparently prefer that the one domestic violence prosecutor spend more of her time traveling back and forth from municipality to municipality, rather than actually prosecuting cases and aiding victims of domestic violence, as she was hired to do.
By contrast, centralized domestic violence courts are operating effectively elsewhere in South Carolina. They provide better safety and security for victims, facilitate better tracking of cases and repeat offenders, and promote involvement of all of the professionals who provide crucial services to affected families.
