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As an attorney, I am committed to making South Carolina a safer
place in which to live and to obtaining just and fair compensation
for persons and families who have been needlessly injured by preventable
accidents. My life's work has been spent in the pursuit of those
goals.
I believe in the elimination of frivolous lawsuits and defenses,
and promote a system of justice which will weed out such cases
and defenses which unnecessarily occupy the courts and deny justice
to those with legitimate grievances.
I oppose the placement of arbitrary limits on recovery of damages
because such limits prevent adequate compensation to the profoundly
injured and do nothing to make South Carolina a safer place for
its families. It is only by holding people accountable for the
consequences of their acts that a safe environment is made possible.
I oppose the limiting of punitive damages awards against those
people or entities who clearly and convincingly have knowingly
produced and distributed dangerously defective products which
kill and maim the citizens of this country. If the system for
awarding punitive damages is to be changed, that change should
include criminal sanctions for those people who knowingly cause
injury and death.
Finally, I believe in the truth of the words spoken by Thomas
Jefferson in 1787. Mr. Jefferson was fearful of the power of a
"corps of sappers and miners who steadily worked to undermine
the independent rights of citizens and to consolidate all power
in the hands of a government in which they have a freehold. Mr.
Jefferson went on to say that the right to trial by jury in all
matters is a sacred palladium of liberty and "the only anchor
ever yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to
the principles of its constitution. Mr. Jeffersons words hold
true and are still relevant today.

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