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South Carolina
| South Carolina Assessment Team | Resources on the Administration of the Death Penalty in South Carolina |
South Carolina Assessment Team
Professor Andrew M. Siegel, Chair of the South Carolina Assessment Team, is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law. Professor Siegel teaches constitutional law, American legal history, and a seminar on post-conviction remedies and wrongful conviction. He joined the faculty at the School of Law in 2002. Previously, he was as an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in New York City, New York. Professor Siegel was also a clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens of the United States Supreme Court and to Judge Pierre N. Leval of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd District. His scholarly publications include: 'To Learn and Make Respectable Hereafter:' The Litchfield Law School in Cultural Context, 73 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1978 (1998) and The Last Other: The Decline of Overt Prejudice and the Rise of the Prison State, (anticipated 2005). Professor Siegel serves on the Faculty Senate, the Faculty Selection Committee, and advises the Criminal Law Society and the American Constitution Society chapter. Professor Siegel graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in history, received a M.A. in history from Princeton, and graduated summa cum laude from New York University School of Law.
Judge William L. Howard, Sr. serves on the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Judge Howard also serves as Special Counsel to the Charleston, South Carolina law firm Young, Clement & Rivers. His practice areas include professional liability, alternative dispute resolution, and litigation. Prior to serving on the Court of Appeals, Judge Howard served as Circuit Judge of the 9th Judicial Circuit where he was appointed by the Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court to handle all asbestos related litigation. Judge Howard also served on the Governor's Committee for Consumer Affairs and on the South Carolina Bar Ethics Committee. Judge Howard served in the United States Army Reserve, where he obtained the rank of a 2nd Lieutenant. He received his B.A. from Dickinson College and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.
Justice Ernest A. Finney, Jr. served on the South Carolina Supreme Court from 1985 until his retirement in 2000.In 1994, he was appointed Chief Justice making him the first African-American Chief Justice of South Carolina Supreme Court. Following his retirement from the court, he served as Interim President of South Carolina State University for the 2002-2003 school year. Prior to serving on the court, Justice Finney served on the South Carolina's 3rd Circuit Court and was a State Representative. Previously, Justice Finney was in private practice in Sumter, South Carolina specializing in civil rights litigation where he defended over 6000 clients for participating in demonstrations and sit-ins. Justice Finney also was a teacher for five years before entering private practice. He is a member of the NAACP and the American Bar Association. In 1998, he was inducted into the National Black College Hall of Fame. He holds numerous honorary degrees and received his B.A. from Claflin College and his J.D. from the South Carolina State University School of Law.
Senator C. Bradley Hutto represents the 40th District of South Carolina. He sits on several committees including Judiciary, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Medical Affairs, Rules, and Fish, Game and Forestry. Sen. Hutto is also an attorney with Williams & Williams, where he concentrates on criminal defense and civil litigation. He also sits on the Legislative Advisory Board for Palmetto Pride. He is a member of the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association and the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Sen. Hutto graduated magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina and received his J.D. from Georgetown University.
Zoe Sanders Nettles is a partner at Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough in Columbia, South Carolina, where she specializes in governmental relations, administrative law, and pharmaceutical and medical litigation. She has been with the firm since 1993. Prior to entering private practice, she spent one year as a state court prosecutor and was a clerk for United States District Court Judge Matthew J. Perry. She served as President to the National Association of Women Lawyers in 2003-2004 and is the Chair of South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Execution of Children. Ms. Nettles serves as Secretary to the South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society, is a member of the American Bar Association, and a permanent member of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. In 2004, she received the Young Women Industry Award from the YWCA and was named to "20 Under 40" by the Columbia Business Review in 2003. Ms. Nettles received her B.A. from University of Virginia and her J.D. from University of South Carolina.
D. Ashley Pennington is a defense attorney in Charleston, South Carolina and is the Community Justice Director for the Noisette Foundation. Previously, Mr. Pennington was a partner at Stirling, O'Connell & Pennington. He also was the Executive Director of the Charleston County Public Defender's Office for eleven years and the Deputy Director for three years prior. Mr. Pennington was also a Staff Attorney in the Chicago, Illinois office of the Federal Public Defender and at the Richland County, South Carolina Public Defender's Office. He is the Chair of the Criminal Law subcommittee of the South Carolina Bar Association, a member of the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and a past President of the South Carolina Public Defender Association. He received aboth his B.A. and J.D. from the University of South Carolina.
Lesley M. Coggiola is the Chief Staff Attorney for the South Carolina Court of Appeals. She is also an Adjunct Instructor at the University of South Carolina School of Law. Previously, Ms. Coggiola served as the Chief Public Defender of Richland County, South Carolina. She was also an Assistant Public Defender, a Staff Attorney for the Center for Capital Litigation, and was Of Counsel for Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough. Prior to attending law school, she spent eleven years with IBM in systems and marketing. Ms. Coggiola has served on the House of Delegates for the South Carolina Bar, as Chair of the Criminal Law Section of the South Carolina Bar, and as a member of the Access to Justice Committee of the South Carolina Bar. She is a former President of the South Carolina Public Defender Association and a member of the American Council of Chief Defenders. She received a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.
Barbara R. Morgan (bio unavailable)
Ralph J. Wilson (bio unavailable)
Resources on the Administration of the Death Penalty in South Carolina
· Kimberly C. Petillo, The Untouchables: The Impact of South Carolina's New Judicial Selection System on the South Carolina Supreme Court, 1997-2003, 67 Alb. L. Rev. 937 (2004).
· Theodore Eisenberg, Stephen P. Garvey, and Martin T. Wells, Victim Characteristics and Victim Impact Evidence in South Carolina Capital Cases, 88 Cornell L. Rev. 306 (2003).
· Craig M. Bradley, South Carolina's Death Penalty Odyssey Continues, 38-APR Trial 68 (2002).
· David McCord, A Year in the Life of Death: Murders and Capital Sentences in South Carolina, 1998, 53 S.C. L. Rev. 249 (2002).
· John H. Blume, Twenty-Five Years of Death: A Report of the Cornell Death Penalty Project on the "Modern" Era of Capital Punishment in South Carolina, 54 S.C. L. Rev. 285 (2002).
· Judge Roger M. Young, Using Social Science to Assess the Need for Jury Reform in South Carolina, 52 S.C. L. Rev 135 (2000).
· Matthew T. Norman, Standards and Procedures for Determining Whether a Defendant is Competent to Make the Ultimate Choice - Death; Ohio's New Precedent for Death Row "Volunteers", 13 J.L. & Health 103 (1998-1999).
· John H. Blume and Pamela A. Wilkins, Death by Default: State Procedural Default Doctrine in Capital Cases, 50 S.C. L. Rev. 1 (1998).
· John H. Blume, An Introduction to Post-Conviction Remedies, Practice and Procedure in South Carolina, 45 S.C. L. Rev 235 (1994).
· Raymond Paternoster and Ann Marie Kazyaka, The Administration of the Death Penalty in South Carolina: Experiences Over the First Few Years, 39 S.C. L. Rev 245 (1998).
· Raymond Paternoster and Ann Marie Kazyaka, An Examination of Comparatively Excessive Death Sentences in South Carolina 1979-1987, 17 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 475 (1989-1990).
· Raymond Paternoster, Race of Victim and Location of Crime:
The Decision to Seek the Death Penalty in South Carolina, 74 J. Crim.
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