Wednesday, Jan. 07, 2009

Former U.S. Attorney Thurmond to begin duties as solicitor

AIKEN -- Like hundreds of Aikenites who have to stand outside or drive by the local courthouse, the incoming Second Circuit Solicitor "hates" roll call, and he wants to try and get rid of it.

Solicitor-elect Strom Thurmond Jr. performed, what he called, his first official act Tuesday, when he swore in the executive committee members of the Aiken branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

At the meeting, Thurmond outlined his vision for heading the office, which prosecutes offenders in Bamberg, Barnwell and Aiken counties.

On the long-term goal list was his idea to rid downtown Aiken of the parade of the accused that rings the courthouse monthly.

"I hate roll call, I hate roll call. I'm going to do what I can to get rid of it," he said.

"Folks, it looks bad ... and it denies the community access to the courthouse."

The former U.S. attorney admitted that he did not know if this could be accomplished, but it would be a positive.

Thurmond, who will be sworn in next week, won the seat unopposed following the decision of longtime solicitor Barbara Morgan not to seek re-election.

His speech to the civil rights activist group focused on the challenges that he will face in an office.

The challenges include an overcrowded docket and 5,000 outstanding warrants which need to be served in the three-county district.

"Every solicitor talks about reducing the docket size," he said.

"But I'm not going to (accept plea bargains) or dismiss cases because the docket is large."

Rattling off a number of serious and violent crimes, the soon-to-be solicitor emphasized a tough stance on prosecuting those cases and seeking harsh sentences for those offenders.

"If I can prove my case, I'm going to be pretty stingy," he said.

Thurmond also talked of the many programs his office will offer to youthful and first-time, non-violent offenders to help them remove any stain from their record.

He also touched on another goal of tackling the roots of drug crimes including at-tacking distributors and reducing demand by looking at addicts.

Thurmond identified himself as "the son of a recovering alcoholic," when addressing the problems of addiction and the need to tackle this problem to stop the demand for nar-cotics.

-- Aiken Standard

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