Attorney General Charlie Condon was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and graduated from the Bishop England High School. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1975 and a law degree from Duke University School of Law in 1978. In 1980, at the age of 27, he was elected Solicitor for the Ninth Judicial Circuit. At the time, he was the youngest solicitor ever elected. He and his wife Emily, a family practice physician, have four children.
Elected as South Carolina's Attorney General in 1994, Charlie Condon is known as an innovative attorney general whose office has aggressively prosecuted criminal cases; has promoted legislation and other initiatives to fight crime, particularly violent crime; has promoted programs and policies designed to prevent crime; has represented the State in civil litigation; and has rendered legal opinions on a variety of subjects. Here is a partial list of what the office has accomplished under his direction.
Under the leadership of Charlie Condon, the Attorney General's office has instigated a number of investigations and prosecutions.
After learning about a group of alleged con artists operating out of South Carolina, the Attorney General assembled a multi-jurisdictional task force whose coordinated work eventually led to the arrest and prosecution of the "Irish Travelers," a band that allegedly traveled around the country bilking elderly citizens through home repair scams and other deceptions.
He has taken an active role in cases involving crack cocaine addicts charged with abusing their unborn children. In conjunction with local law enforcment officials and medical groups, he initiated an amnesty program to allow pregnant cocaine addicts to receive drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration.
He has created a new obscenity prosecutor for the statewide grand jury, who has already brought charges against alleged child pornographers;
He sought and procured an indictment against personal injury lawyers, unlicensed in the state, who allegedly came into South Carolina in the wake of a 1994 plane crash and solicited bereaved victims in violation of state law.
During his tenure, the Office of the South Carolina Attorney General has brought more cases out of the statewide grand jury than ever before.
Attorney General's Condon's office has helped to introduce legislation and promote policies that have strengthened substantially the ability of the State to prosecute and punish criminals:
His office has worked to ban plea bargains for repeat violent offenders;
has spearheaded passage of the Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996;
has lobbied to raise the minimum sentence for murder to 30 years;
has lobbied Congress to eliminate federal funding for the Anti-Death Penalty Resource Center;
has helped to streamline the review of death penalties, as evidenced by six executions in 1996;
has helped to lobby and pass legislation to establish a fund to help counties pay for death penalty trials;
has lobbied for legislation to abolish parole for violent offenders;
has helped pass legislation to require all serious school crimes to be reported to the Attorney General;
has helped to produce a constitutional amendment that denies bail for violent offenders;
has lobbied for passage of legislation to end frivolous inmate litigation in State and Federal courts;
has obtained permanent funding for the State Grand Jury;
has led the fight to put a victim's rights provision in the state constitution and fought all attempts in the General Assembly to weaken victim rights;
has promoted "the two strikes/three strikes you're in" policy for convicted felons;
has lobbied the General Assembly to abolish the practice of allowing correction officials to reduce a judge's sentence by referring offenders to a 90-day "shock incarceration program," with court approval;
and has lobbied the General Assembly to prevent magistrates who fail certification testing from being reappointed.
Attorney General Condon's office has also pioneered programs and policies designed to prevent crime and to protect and aid victims.
His office has helped to establish a state-supported church mentor program, where youthful offenders can learn from older advisors how to reorder their priorities and amend their lives;
has installed a hotline to provide a swift response to school violence, a program that has become a model for other states and municipalities;
has instituted a hotline to combat insurance fraud;
has supported a victims rights program administered by the attorney general's office;
has inaugurated a Father of the Year Award to highlight the role of fathers in stabilizing home life;
has established a statewide protocol for domestic violence, promoting legislation to institute tougher penalties;
and has assumed the responsibility for regulating securities and charities in the State of South Carolina.
In civil litigation, Attorney General Condon has defended the rights of private citizens and the sovereignty of states against the encroachment of both federal judges and the U.S. Congress.
He was the first attorney general in the nation to take advantage of a federal law that allowed states to terminate federal court orders governing state prisons systems. The result: South Carolina's prison system is once again under state control.
He has sued the U.S. government to prevent federal law from governing public access to state drivers' license and motor vehicle records.
He is currently litigating the title to the Morris Island Lighthouse in hope that this historic structure can be transferred from the State to Charleston County and as a consequence better preserved.
In many important areas, General Condon's legal opinions have had a major impact on the law of South Carolina and the lives of South Carolinians. These opinions have strongly favored the protection of human life, state heritage, the environment, the taxpayer, the institution of marriage, the promotion of equal justice and states rights, the public's right to know, and the right of the people and their elective representatives to vote on important questions. Specifically, his opinions have:
concluded partial-birth abortion is "homicide by child abuse" under South Carolina law and that a bill banning all forms of infanticide is constitutional;
stated that state officials could be personally liable for the wrongful expenditures of public funds;
argued that the division protecting coastlines and woodlands could not be reduced in status without approval by the General Assembly;
stated that a public referendum was valid in a proposed upstate hospital merger;
said that states have a constitutional right to ban same-sex marriage;
concluded that inspection records relating to a nuclear laundry are open to public view for license renewal;
and maintained that state-mandated quotas and set-asides discriminate on the basis of race and gender.
For more information, contact our office via email: info@scattorneygeneral.org