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Walking the walk against home violence

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg is known for speaking her mind. She's been on opposite sides of political battles with Attorney General Henry McMaster.

McMaster, many will remember, was the longtime chairman of the S.C. Republican Party. Cobb-Hunter is a former minority leader in the S.C. House and Democratic National Committee member.

The two were together this past week in Orangeburg for a common cause. It's one that is Cobb-Hunter's passion even beyond politics: battling domestic violence.

A founder and the leader of Tri-County CASA/Family Systems, Cobb-Hunter has spent decades in a direct effort to help domestic violence victims, break the cycle that leads to new generations of abuse, and punish as well as get help for those who are the abusers.

Her appearance with McMaster was about ensuring that those who are the abusers don't essentially walk away from the charges on their day in court.

The problem is that so many domestic violence cases are heard in magistrate's court, where evidence is presented in the form of testimony from arresting officers or other officials. There are no prosecutors. Too many times the result is too little punishment and a continuing cycle of domestic violence.

A program begun by McMaster aims to level the playing field in magistrate's courts. Some clients have defense attorneys. McMaster wants the state to have professional legal representation too. He's asking lawyers to step forward and give of their time to prosecute domestic violence cases in magistrate's court.

The attorney general's office will train, certify, assign and supervise volunteer attorneys to serve as prosecutors in first- and second-offense CDV cases.

With attorneys in South Carolina pledged each year to provide certain free services for the good of the profession, the program offers an extraordinary chance at public service. It is being tested in two counties -- Kershaw and Orangeburg -- where the criminal domestic violence caseload is among the state's highest.

McMaster and Cobb-Hunter joined forces last week to urge members of the local bar association to join the effort. Both expressed confidence that attorneys will step forward, saying about 40 have signed up for training.

Cobb-Hunter went a step further, praising McMaster for initiating the program. "When it comes to this business, I'm telling you how refreshing and rewarding it is to have an attorney general who is not only talking the talk, but walking the walk.''

His challenge now is to get fellow attorneys to walk with him and stay on the path.