Judge Shedd amplifies child abuse
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Judge Dennis Shedd tells it like it is.

Dennis W. Shedd, native of Cordova, S.C., is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He talked to the Columbia Rotary Club immediately after HUD Deputy Secretary Bernardi. He was introduced by Jon Keith as a fair, faithful, and funny family man.

Judge Shedd congratulated the Rotarians on the quality of their meeting's short opening prayer, perfectly allowable in his mind. After his 10 years with U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, 11 years with the U.S. District Court for the District of S.C., and four years so far with the Court of Appeals in Richmond, he said he couldn't talk about pending cases or about politics.

A former Cub Scout leader, Shedd warned the audience about the sexual exploitation and abuse of children, something rarely discussed at a Rotary luncheon. He personally knew of a Cub Scout leader who raped a seven- year- old seven times on an overnight camping trip. The boy was autistic.

Children should expect two basic rights, besides all the protections legally in play, according to Shedd: (1) The right to grow up safe. (2) The right to grow up as children.

In closing, Shedd recalled Senator Thurmond's "fabulous" vocabulary and his quick wit. Educated and trained as a school teacher, Thurmond read law in an office with a practicing lawyer. He didn't go to law school, and he passed the bar with a top score, one of two. The other man who matched the same top score was a Harvard Law graduate, according to Thurmond.