More on South Carolina Indigent Defense

The State from Columbia, South Carolina has, "Public defender hopes to aid less fortunate."

Being a public defender is not an easy task, but Doug Strickler would have it no other way.

“This is why I went to law school,” Strickler said shortly after being installed as the 5th Circuit’s public defender to represent poor defendants in Richland and Kershaw counties.

Raised in a middle-class military family, Strickler says it’s his responsibility to give back to others.

“I’m a child of the ’60s,” he said.

Nearly 100 people attended Strickler’s swearing-in ceremony, laughing and clapping as attorneys and judges told funny stories and heaped praise on the veteran public defender.

Circuit Judge G. Thomas Cooper spoke about the positive changes Strickler has made as the chief Richland County public defender, a job he has held since 2003.

“There has been a transformation in the way we do business around here,” Cooper said.

Strickler instituted a new case management system and has more than doubled the number of defense attorneys — to 31 from 13.

“I will tell you without fear of contradiction,” Cooper said, “Doug Strickler is the most dedicated public defender I have ever encountered.”

This post yesterday contained another article by State writer Ishmael Tate on the PD office in South Carolina.