That John Ludwig walked out of a Greenville County courtroom earlier this week instead of heading to a prison cell is nothing short of unbelievable. His gentle treatment rocks confidence in our justice system.

Bill Bardsley died on April 25 in one of Greenville County’s most bizarre traffic fatalities. Ludwig was literally flying low when his high-performance car left the road, crossed a pasture, cleared a backyard fence and flew through Bardsley’s home. The community’s sense of shock and anger is easy to understand: An innocent man was killed while merely watching television in his living room.

From the night of the accident, it was clear this case would be different from many others that occur in Greenville County. ...

Ludwig hired the best lawyer money could buy — former U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Billy Wilkins, who also once served as Greenville’s top prosecutor. Wilkins aggressively defended his client, as would be expected. ...

By the time Ludwig entered a guilty plea Monday to the lesser charge of reckless homicide, his history as a lead-footed driver had been established. Ariail brought into court copies of 24 traffic tickets handed to Ludwig since 1992, and most were for speeding.

Details of the deadly accident also were added: Ludwig was traveling at least 85 miles per hour when his car left the road, according to news reports. ...

The expectation, quite naturally, was that Ludwig would face prison time for extraordinarily reckless behavior that cost an innocent man his life. ...

Circuit Judge James Williams Jr. — a retired Orangeburg-area judge who had been appointed to this case by state Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal — clearly was impressed with the good works Ludwig had done. The judge was quoted as saying he wasn’t influenced by Ludwig’s wealth, but was “influenced by what he has done with it.” A retired judge from another part of the state presumably faces less criticism and fewer consequences for handing down a shockingly light sentence.

Citizens respect our justice system when they think it is fair and that all are equal in the eyes of the law. What happened in a Greenville County courtroom this week was an injustice that has undermined respect for our courts.

On Wednesday Ariail asked the judge to reconsider his sentence. This at least gives the court an opportunity to correct a sentence so light that it offends lawabiding citizens.

The Greenville News

The sin of recurring bipartisanship

Sen. Lindsey Graham apparently dodged a pie in the face on Monday when Berkeley County Republicans declined, for now, to censure him for the sin of recurrent bipartisanship. The county party’s executive committee has decided to wait until January, and the Dorchester GOP reportedly is doing the same.

Not so, their counterparts in Charleston who voted last week to formally state their objections to Sen. Graham’s efforts to work with Senate Democrats on a number of issues. That view fails to acknowledge that responsible governance occasionally requires compromise. Maintaining a strictly partisan level of discourse might work on the stump but neither party should be formally opposed to bipartisan cooperation to resolve national problems.

Apparently, the last straw for the Charleston executive committee was Sen. Graham’s decision to work with the likes of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on an energy bill aimed at easing global warming. ...

Rising sea level will threaten coastal communities in a variety of ways, so the issue ought to have particular resonance in Charleston. The property of many Republicans, as well as Democrats and Independents, could be at risk. ...

Maybe Sen. Graham, a bona fide conservative, can improve the bill during Senate deliberations. He deserves credit for working across the aisle in an effort to produce solutions, instead of more hot air.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier

Welcome to Thomson, Illinois

A tiny town in Illinois seems to have pulled the rug from under some S.C. politicians grandstanding to the point of demagoguing on the possibility of terrorism suspects being transferred to a military prison at the Naval Weapons Station Charleston.

Thomson is a village of 500 people in northwestern Illinois and the site of a nearly empty state prison, the Thomson Correctional Center. The village president (mayor), Jerry Hebeler, says moving prisoners from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be terrific news for his town. Why? Because having the terrorism suspects in Thomson Correctional Center would be an economic boon for his little neck of the woods. ...

Contrast that approach with the fear-mongering efforts of some S.C. candidates for public office to circulate petitions aimed at preventing transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to the Naval Consolidated Brig in North Charleston. Never mind that the brig has housed, without incident, at least one notorious terrorism suspect. And never mind that the brig has an unprecedented six consecutive compliance ratings of 100 percent from the American Correctional Association. The suggestion that S.C. citizens have something to fear in housing terrorism suspects in a top-rated corrections facility is an affront to the armed forces people who operate the brig. ...

To date, military proceedings for Gitmo detainees have been held at the nearby Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. Federal officials visited the Thomson facility Monday. A few Gitmo detainees will be moved to New York to stand trial. As one might imagine, some residents say they don’t think it’s appropriate to have the men accused in the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, to be tried so close to where the twin towers stood. Others say they see no problem.

The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News