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As Life Without Parole Cases Rise, Finding Public Defenders Grows Harder  

The Crime Report

South Carolina requires just three years of experience in criminal law; Arkansas specifies that lawyers should have handled at least one homicide trial. Other states have minimal standards. But the standards have yet to be approved by other state regulators.

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Southern Gothic: Alex Murdaugh to Turn Himself in Bizarre Criminal Conspiracy

JonathanTurley

The still unraveling story of Alex Murdaugh, the once powerful South Carolina lawyer, became even more bizarre this week with reports of the arrest of a man, Curtis Edward Smith, 61, accused of shooting him in the head. While Murdaugh allegedly invited his killing, the police did not treat the case as a murder under South Carolina law.

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