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The South Carolina supreme court has weighed in on the drama swirling around former S.C. senator and ex-Charleston County GOP chairman, John Kuhn.
According to an order issued on Monday (August 19, 2024), Kuhn’s license to practice law in the Palmetto State has been suspended “until further order of this court.”
The order (.pdf) – signed by new chief justice John Kittredge – was based on the recommendation of the court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC), which is “primarily tasked with screening and investigating all of the complaints made against both judges and lawyers in South Carolina.”
The office is also responsible for “prosecuting those judges and lawyers who have either committed ethical misconduct, or are suffering from a physical or mental condition which adversely affects their ability to serve the public.”
Does it do its job effectively? Not always…
However, in this case – one of the first high-profile attorney discipline cases of the Kittredge era – the justices appear to be dropping the hammer.
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Kuhn, our audience will recall, was arrested on May 30, 2024 – his second arrest in three months – for an alleged assault involving a worker in downtown Charleston, S.C.
According to a Charleston Police Department (CPD) incident report obtained by this media outlet, Kuhn slapped a worker in the face on East Battery Street during a verbal argument that unfolded at approximately 11:15 a.m. EDT Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
“(Kuhn) used an open hand to strike the left side of (the worker)’s face causing his sunglasses to fall off his face,” the report (.pdf) alleged.
Kuhn’s May arrest came just ten weeks after he was charged with hit-and-run resulting in property damage and “improper passing” in connection with this shocking incident in downtown Charleston, S.C.
At the time of his May 30 arrest, our media outlet was investigating Kuhn in connection with the alleged assault and another reported road rage incident.
Kuhn represented S.C. Senate District 43 (map) from 2001-2003. A decade later, he ran unsuccessfully for the Palmetto State’s first congressional district – receiving 6.5 percent of the vote in a 16-candidate field. Six years later, Kuhn was elected chairman of the Charleston GOP – but he resigned nine months later after a dispute with the party’s treasurer and first vice chairman.
As noted in our previous coverage, Kuhn has long drawn scrutiny for his uneven temperament – including multiple road rage incidents and a 2009 situation in Atlanta in which he was temporarily removed from a domestic flight for refusing to turn off a portable electronic device.
Obviously, there are multiple sides to every story we cover – and Kuhn reportedly filed a response to the ODC on August 9, 2024 disputing the recommendation to suspend him. Assuming we obtain a copy of that file – or any of the paperwork associated with Kuhn’s suspension – we will be sure to pass that information along to our audience.
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THE ORDER…
(S.C. Supreme Court)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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