Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i > i ii * 11 1 A t Equal justice under the law Top front of the white marble Supreme Court building in Wash ington is inscribed in giant let ters, “Equal justice under the law.” To help fulfill this challenge, the Judicial Branch of the gov ernment employed 5,738 employ ees throughout the nation and its territories in 1963. They admin istered justice. In the Executive branch of the government, the Attorney Gen eral and his Department of Jus tice had another 32,08L employ ees at work in the enforcement area of the law. This includes the Federal Bureau of Investiga tion under J. Edgar Hoover. *~The state is divided into the Eastern District, with sessions of court being held annually in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Aiken, and Orangeburg, and the Western District, with court ses sions in Greenville, Rock Hill, Greenwood, Anderson, and Spar tanburg. Regional offices of the Justice Department are in Charlotte and Savannah; however, F.B.I. offices within the regions are located in Charleston, Columbia and Flor ence (attached to the East), and Greenville, Greenwood, and Spartanburg (attached to the West). . Federal courts are a unique in stitution in the world. Not only do they hear cases and adminis ter justice based on the law; but also they actually interpret the law to determine if it conflicts with the Constitution. Where a 15tv passed by Congress and ad ministered by the President is declared unconstitutional, it be comes necessary for the states to pass an amendment to the Con stitution over which the Supreme Court cannot rule. This is a time-consuming project. By the same token, the justice system of the United States is based on one of precedents. Technically speaking, the courts are supposed to “follow the lead er.” In deciding cases, a judge checks the decisions of earlier judges who had ruled on a sim ilar set of facts. As a rule, he bases his decision on these ear lier rulings. Major argument with many rulings of the Supreme Court in t years has been a trend to- ignoring the decisions of the past and deciding cases based ' on more of a “sense” of justice— ip other words giving us “rule by man” rather than “rule by law.” 12 Lawyers defending their clients today are hard put trying to de termine what “sense of justice” certain courts will have. South Carolina, entitled to four District judges since May 19, 1961, is expected to soon have its full quota. These four judges will be: C. Cecil Wyche and J. Robert Martin (already in of fice), and newcomers soon to be confirmed, Robert Hemphill and Charles Simons. These judges will administer Federal justice in South Caro lina. Anyone feeling his rights under the Constitution have been violated has the right to visit the court. There the U. S. Attorneys and their assistants are in a posi tion to check out the complaints. Other offices in the various Federal Courts include: U. S. Probation and Parole Officer, U. S. Probation officers, Clerks, U. S. Marshalls, Referees in Bank ruptcy, U. S. Commissioners, and Court Reporter. In South Carolina through June 30, 1963, covering a period of one year, there were 55 trials held in the East and 19 in the West. Of the 74 South Carolina trials, 43 were before a jury. Most of the cases ran at least 10 per cent longer than normal. * _ - r-j - In the area of criminal pro ceedings, there were 138 cases pending in Eastern South Caro- lina when the court year began and 139 pending a year later on June 30, 1963. Though losing a small amount of ground, 768 new cases were commenced and 767 cases were terminated. In the Western Division, there were 38 cases pending on June 30, 1962; 290 new cases were commenced; 278 cases were ter minated; and 51 cases were pend ing on June 30, 1963. Of a total of 1,039 original criminal proceedings in South Carolina during the year July 1, 1962, through June 30, 1963, 584 of these involved violation of liquor internal revenue laws. Auto thefts were second with 165, forgery and counterfeiting was third with 78, and larceny and fraud followed with 45 and 44 respectively. These were the five major problems on a national scale — though in a different or der. In the area of being supervised by others during 1962-63 in East ern S. C., there were 1,138 per sons under supervision for court probation, deferred prosecution, U. S. Commissioner probation, parole, mandatory release, and military parole. On June 30, 1963, there were 1,171 such per sons. In Western South Caro lina, there were 358 supervised persons in 1962 and 390 in 1963. In between, there had been a to tal for the state of 847 received for supervision and 626 removed. South Carolina had 3rd lowest bankruptcy case rate in the coun try. There were 112 pending in 1962, 128 new ones were com menced, 121 were terminated, and presently there are 119 pend ing. The Courts received 6,864 passport applications in 1963, 348 petitions for naturalization, and naturalized 317 aliens. LET'S GO CAROLINA SCENIC ; TRAILWAYS to World's Fair (Now York, N. Y.) and Nation's Capital (Washington, D. C.) Be sure to visit both in air-con ditioned comfort. Schedule rates to fit your budget, or for charter party rates, write to: CAROLINA SCENIC TRAILWAYS PHONE 582-5631 SPARTANBURG. S. CAR. A friendly, forward looking bank — serving the Laurens County area since 1886 M. S. BAILEY & SON, BANKERS Clinton, South Carolina MAY, 1964 tion (later War Mobilization) and was generally referred to as “As sistant President” by qualified Washington observers. Perhaps anticipating his death in spite of running for a fourth term as President in 1944, Roose velt clearly hoped that Byrnes would get the vice presidential nomination as the most exper ienced man to replace him in the event of death. Frightened by organized labor’s apparent un willingness to accept Byrnes, Roosevelt did not insist on his nomination but instead agreed to the choice of Harry S. Truman. Three months after Roosevelt’s fourth inauguration, he was dead and the inexperienced Truman was the new President. Byrnes continued his job un der Truman, and on July 3, 1945, he became Secretary of State and next-in-line for the Presi dency. He remained in this key capacity until Jan. 21, 1947. The decisions made during this past quarter century have been among the most important, and contro versial ones, in this nation’s his tory. We are still too close to events of this era to judge the wisdom shown by Mr. Byrnes; as for his impact on the nation, his state, and the world, it has been unique among South Carolinians during the period, 1939-64. UJUDUB m ■ HHp HHBBf ikflHUd hRmmi majority rule. Thurmond is one of the nation's m< t active spokesmen for the same principles And while Tillman pained his political siicc<- the spokesman of tho small farmers who controllod the polls of the state in his era. Johnston considers himself the 1 spokesman of the “little man" in the state’s textile mills today. Besides the two Senators. U. S Representatives Mendel Rivers. John McMillan, and Bryan Dorn. Governor Donald Russell and ex-Governor Fritz Hollinps are perhaps most powerful among the state’s leaders in national affairs today. Rivers, expected to be chairman of the House Armed Services Committee next year, will hold one of the nation's key roles as watchdog of our defense An effective, articulate Representative, he is not ex pected to seek advancement to the Senate. McMillan, long time chairman of the House Dis- \ Kerr.eir. i.... • . i, . •+.. .u.e n. i,■ . < a to the v.i e presidency .e cv coupled with a re\ : va 1 • <{ } !< >1 u ugs p< iwer a ' a m*ci >nd term Governor and 1’ S Senator supporting Kemu dv could enable the handsome and persuasive Charlestonian to have considerable influence in the nat ion Other relativelv voung leaders of South Carolina who might aspire to high political office and its chal lenge of leader.'hip include S Rep Albert Wat son. age 41. Lieutenant Governor Robert McNair 4T State Senators Earle Morris .'in. Marshall Parker 4'J. and John West 41. State Home Speaker Pro Tern Rex Carter n8, and Clemsor Fmver uty President Robert Edwards n0 Hotor • v 11 be the final nidge, but vou the vot ers. will do the nominating. Power in the making 100 years can be the making of your car's performance Power up your car with the world’s most modem pre mium gasoline — Sinclair Dino Supreme — refined from petroleum that was mellowing in the earth when dino saurs lived. This power in the making 100 million years can be the making of your car’s performance. It can make your engine run smoother, more powerfully year after year after year. With Sinclair Dino Supreme Gasoline, you get all the full force of power your high- compression engine can deliver. See your Sinclair Dealer today. SEETHE EXCITING WORLD OF DINOSAURS AT SINCLAIR DIN0LAND, N.Y. WORLD'S FAIR THE SOUTH CAROLINIAN 5