For those of you unfamiliar with Republican attorney Todd Kincannon, he’s probably one of the most unfiltered, politically-incorrect people you’ll ever meet. In fact not too long ago a FITS piece chronicled the general disregard for appropriateness that’s routinely displayed on Kincannon’s widely-read Twitter page.
Imagine our surprise, then, to discover that the state’s most notorious Twitterer has a “soft side,” one that many of the women who recoil at his over-the-top commentary might be surprised to discover exists. In fact, in investigating a trio of recent stories related to the proposed release of a mentally-ill sex offender (here, here and here), we were referred by a prosecutor to a case in which the infamous bad boy of the S.C. bar appears to have been doing the Lord’s work on behalf of women and children in the Palmetto State.
The case was South Carolina v. Hubner (more detail here), and it involved a deacon at Columbia, S.C.’s First Baptist Church who was convicted of molesting several young girls. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, but the Supreme Court reinstated it after reading a brief filed by … you guessed it … Todd Kincannon.
“Wait … the Todd Kincannon?” we asked the prosecutor. “The guy on Twitter?”
“Yeah,” she said. “His brief is the new standard for these cases.”
Prior to Kincannon’s brief, prosecutors could not enter evidence in sex offender cases pertaining to previous victims of molestation. Now they can – meaning it has become much easier for the state to convict child molesters.
It’s a limited rule … meaning that judges must still weigh the relevance of the evidence to be introduced … but it’s a tool that this prosecutor told FITS was “invaluable” in helping convict pedophiles.
Todd Kincannon … who’d a thunk it?
***
By Darth November 17, 2011 at 12:20 pm
So is Todd still on the offensive list?
By Boz Martin Likes this - or not November 17, 2011 at 12:51 pm
*I* woulda thunk it. I figured out early in following his Tweets — sometimes like watching a very intense but hilarious cage-match food fight at Animal House — Todd hates true bullies, and is a staunch defender of seriously abused children and women. Also, of people fucked over by uber-litigious assholes like Righthaven.
Good on ya, Todd. I hope that some of Sandusky’s victims are smart enough to hire you.
By Ed November 17, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Calling women cunts certainly helps his cause a lot.
If you actually read the opinion in that case, the Supreme Court merely cites another case already decided upon which Kincannon’s name does not appear and for which it appears he did not write a brief. From looking at the two opinions, it looks like the same decision was going to be reached no matter whether Kincannon wrote a brief or not. Perhaps whoever briefed State v. Wallace is the one who should get the credit for the “new standard brief.”
By Kodd Tincannon March 19, 2012 at 5:03 am
I echo Ed. The opinion does not mention the amicus brief at all. Moreover, the brief was written by three authors, including Kincannon, but also including a more experienced attorney from the Crime Victim Legal Network, which specializes in filing these types of briefs and litigating in defense of victims’ rights in SC. Kincannon would have been a third year associate at the time when the amicus brief was filed. Not were there two amici briefs filed, there was also input from the SC Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and Assistant Attorney General.
The author of this post has overstated Todd Kincannon’s role in the SC Supreme Court overturning of the lower court’s opinion. His other legal writings that are accessible on the internet are rather prosaic when compared to that of other lawyers. I know Kincannon has become somewhat of a hero to a certain subset of conservatives, but there is no need to puff up his professional reputation beyond what reality permits.
By darksied calling November 17, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Now I think I have seen it all..FITS actually wrote a fluff piece on Todd Kincannon. What’s next, cats and dogs living together in peace? Gamecocks and Tigers being friends? (NAAAAAHHHHHH). Maybe the world is gonna end on 12.21.12…
By LC November 17, 2011 at 7:09 pm
That’s terrific. I know one of the girls that Hubner molested. Sick sick sick man. Had no idea appeals overturned.
By oh right November 17, 2011 at 11:37 pm
So Kincannon is now a Sic Willie client? Or Sic is just trying to lure him into the FITS fold by showing him how productive a contract could be?
By Self Lauding or Self Loathing November 18, 2011 at 12:04 pm
“The J. Todd Kincannon Award is given in honor of Mr. J. Todd Kincannon a 2002 graduate of Erskine College who earned a triple major in chemistry, physics, and mathematics. The award is given to students in each of the following five categories: chemistry, mathematics, physics, homeschooled and transfer.” What a douchebag.
By Phil March 19, 2012 at 6:00 am
Erskine College’s Mathematics department consists of just 2 professors. “Information Technology” is folded into the Mathematics department. (They offer no PDE, complex analysis, topology, geometry, or advanced probability courses! How does one major in math w/o these being available. ODE is not even required for majors.). The Physics and Chemistry department, which is also joined together, has five professors, one who teaches both chemistry and physics courses. There are more people teaching physical education. It’s essentially 13th grade.
Todd was involved with moot court etc. at U. South Carolina Law, but his performance in the actual classes seems middling. No cum laude. Within his cohort, he’s average at best. His acid tongue on Twitter is what has distinguished him thus far. Big achievement there.
By Phil March 19, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Todd probably couldn’t hack it once he arrived in grad school. If you’ve passed through a half-rate undergraduate program there, the professors who teach graduate are not going to hold your hand because of it. They assume you are familiar with the foundations. That Todd made it through mediocre Erskine, without apparently achieving a GPA high enough to receive any academic distinctions, implies that maybe he went into grad school weakly prepared.
Todd’s seemingly advanced progress was not the result of his being gifted in any way. His mediocre academic record seems to reflect that. Assuming Todd’s life story is true, Todd merely bypassed the standard elementary and secondary school progression by getting homeschooled. This allowed him to place out of the low bar that SC (SC has the second worst academic standard and achievement in the country) sets for its graduating students. Can you do arithmetic and elementary algebra, can you read and write with acceptable skill, by fifteen? Maybe in SC this is rare, but throughout the country honors students everywhere could probably exceed that low bar, to say nothing of students in gifted programs. I was taking calculus in my sophomore year of high school with a few other sophomores. I left high school already having taken the equivalent of three college semesters of calculus. My parents pushed me further beyond my comfort zone than the parents of my peers. Several of my classmates experienced the same. With the exception of a couple spectacularly bright classmates, I don’t think any of us would qualify as being exceeding precocious or particularly gifted, as Todd makes himself out to be.
Should high school students be allowed to advance at a faster pace? Should they be allowed to skip grades and take college courses? Perhaps, if the student is capable, the parents have the means, and if the parents are invested in their children’s academic performance. One counterargument, which I think is legitimate, is that this deprives students of associating with their peers. It forces them into interacting with children who, by virtue of their age, are on average more mature, physically and emotionally. I believe elementary and secondary education is as much about cultivating social and emotional intelligence as it is about learning. I think, in the case of Todd Kincannon, his deprivation of such a cultivating experience is reflected in the offensive, confrontational, and frankly spastic manner in which he interacts with the public.
Kudos to Todd’s parents for having the time to school him and the willingness (and funds) to take the risk of allowing Todd to go to community college two years before his peers. If Todd were truly as intelligent as he claims, he would have more to show for it than a bunch of twitter followers and the occasional television appearance on half-rate morning programs. He wouldn’t have needed to take five years to complete his “triple major” at a mediocre university. He would have been accepted in a more competitive graduate school. He would have been able to complete graduate school (at least have Masters to show for it). He would have been accepted into a more competitive law school. He would have gotten accepted into a more prestigious law firm. He would have had a corpus of work that he could hold up to demonstrate his brilliance. Other people with Todd’s purported intelligence and academic prowess have accomplished at least some of these things. He has accomplished none. So, please can we stop trying to puff-up Todd Kincannon? He works as a lawyer and says mean things on Twitter. So what?
By Phil March 19, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Edit: If you’ve passed through a half-rate undergraduate program AND ARE NOT UP TO SPEED ON THE PREREQUISITE COURSE MATERIAL, the professors who teach graduate COURSES are not going to hold your hand because of it.
By DizzyBritches November 18, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Todd Kincannon is a good man. I’m not surprised to read about this at all. I’m a big fan of his on Twitter.
By DizzyBritches November 18, 2011 at 12:49 pm
@BozMartin: I’ve seen the same things. Thanks for saying it better than I could. :)
Pingback: Todd Kincannon: Constitutional litigation with a twist! | Politisite
Pingback: Todd Kincannon: Constitutional litigation with a twist! | Iron Mill News Service
By Mohawklady May 12, 2012 at 10:43 am
Racist comments made by Todd Kincannon to Native American Indians.
http://mohawklady.tumblr.com/