Liberty and justice for all? SC’s Murdaugh case continues to expose 2 systems of law

This story first published Aug. 13, 2021.

Each week seems to bring some new disturbing revelation about Paul Murdaugh and the apparent special treatment he received from law enforcement.

This week, our team at The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette obtained records related to a traffic stop where Murdaugh, charged in the 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, received a speeding ticket in Charleston County while out on bond in May 2020.

At the time, Murdaugh was facing three felony counts of boating under the influence, yet dash cam video shows him hauling a white center console boat behind his mother’s 2014 Ford truck.

“The reason I pulled you over, you were booking it, OK,” the officer says in the video. “I got you at 78.” The speed limit was 55.

The details of Murdaugh’s encounters with law enforcement that have emerged in the last few weeks continue to fuel rampant speculation surrounding the June 7 shootings that left Murdaugh and his mother Maggie dead in Colleton County.

No arrests have been made in their murders and even People magazine featured the Murdaugh case in a story titled ‘Big Family, Old Money, New Drama.’

Each incident also only gives the public more reasons to question their own interactions with law enforcement and how they might differ if they too were part of a well-known, well-connected family.

Consider that Murdaugh was never handcuffed at his bond hearing and his mugshot featured Murdaugh in a collared shirt, not the typical orange jumpsuit.

He was charged with boating under the influence, but he was never restricted from drinking alcohol or driving a boat.

In July 2019, three months after he was indicted in the crash, a judge removed the only condition of his release, allowing Murdaugh to travel outside the 14th Judicial Circuit — Beaufort, Hampton, Allendale, Colleton and Jasper counties — while awaiting trial.

The judge’s order said the condition was removed to allow Murdaugh to “attend college, work, live, consult with his attorneys and for any other lawful purpose.”

As our reporter notes, the various incidents following the 2019 boat crash “show that Murdaugh traveled, boated and continued to rack up charges throughout the state while facing felony charges.”

South Carolina law enforcement officials should take this opportunity to consider how they operate and how it is perceived.

It is difficult to enforce the law when people know all too well that there is one law for the rich and powerful and another law for everybody else.

We have come to accept that sometimes in life it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters.

But that should never be true when it comes to upholding the law.

Liberty and justice for all doesn’t come with an asterisk.

This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 11:00 AM.