Whenever I start thinking I’m clever, I run into another example of the lengths to which state and local agencies go to defy state law and hide public information from the public — and I'm reminded I’m just not creative enough to make this stuff up. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

In this corner of Appalachia, the damage was less severe; those with means or ability have made their repairs by now. Those with neither await help from volunteers like us or, perhaps soon, you. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

As USC rolls out a plan to teach students and faculty to use AI responsibly and ethically, I offer everybody else a simple formula for staying out of trouble with it. (And no; it’s not simply ignoring AI, tempting as that may be for a lot of us.) postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Gov. Henry McMaster's otherwise brilliant effort to end secret budget earmarks includes directives to SLED, Public Safety and other agencies that by law he has no legal authority to order around. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

A new state law means the lucky parents of up to 10,000 students can cut the cost of sending their kids to public school by up to $7,500 a year, by having taxpayers buy them laptops, pay school fees and more. It has nothing to do with who needs extra help. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Stress dreams for normal people involve a test they haven’t studied for, or finding themselves naked in a public place. Read why mine involve water, and how SC's misplaced priorities just fueled the stuff of nightmares for me, and a lot of other people. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Just realized I forgot to share last week's column, about the state's new approach to grading restaurants. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Monday's spectacular murders at NFL headquarters in Manhattan serve as a reminder of our failure to provide adequate mental health services for people who need them; this SC case is particularly instructive. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Lt Gov Pamela Evette attacked Greenwood for dropping the Declaration of Independence as its Christmas parade theme, which left me wondering why a Christmas parade needs a theme besides Christmas - and when this race is going to move past the silly season. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Charleston-area shrimpers want to make restaurants tell us where they buy their shrimp after genetic testing said most serve imported seafood. What else they should have to tell us? postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

John Kittredge sat down to talk with me about what the SC Supreme Court has accomplished in his first year as chief justice and what he hopes to do next; it's not just improving judicial ethics. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Two-thirds of the states regularly evaluate whether their economic incentives are paying off, and tweak the ones that aren't. You can probably guess one that isn’t among them. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

The court refused to overturn the gerrymandered congressional districts less than a week after it reversed an order keeping our sensitive personal data out of the hands of the Trump administration. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

See why SC Chief Justice John Kittredge is asking legislators to require magistrates to be lawyers - something no other chief justice has done. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Frank Heindel met South Carolina’s FOI law in 2000, and it was love at first sight. His latest lawsuit over a request denied by USC’s athletic department tries out two new twists that could erode state and local governments’ secrecy regime. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

South Carolina's ban on descriptions of "sexual conduct" in school library books has spawned mischaracterizations and intellectual laziness on both sides. A lawsuit might trigger the smarter and more honest examination we all should undertake. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

It was predictable enough that South Carolina’s candidates for governor immediately started using the Logan Federico murder for political gain once it made national news. But we could actually do something positive as a result. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

If you receive $10,400 a year for the part of your job that you have to do from your office and $30,000 for the part you have to do from home, what’s your salary? It's not a trick question. Well, maybe it is. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

USC is pursuing a two-pronged defense of its football revenue-sharing secrecy. The second is, “Look: name, image and license contracts!” The first is, essentially: “Who you gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?” postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…

Nearly three decades after the S.C. Supreme Court said it was allowing the public to see how its judicial discipline system works, we finally got a look at why most complaints end in no penalty, not even a slap-on-the-wrist reprimand. postandcourier.com/opinion/commen…