COLUMBIA, SC - Last year on June 13th, Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill that states simply, “The State shall not participate in the implementation of the federal REAL ID Act.”  South Carolina became the sixth state to pass a statutory ban on Real ID implementation, following Montana, Washington, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Maine.  New Hampshire later followed South Carolina to become the seventh state to reject the federal program.  Ten other states, bringing the total to eighteen, have enacted other legislation in opposition to the federal ID program, and similar measures are pending in the legislatures of twenty other states.

Gov. Mark Sanford Signs REAL-ID Bill Keeping SC Out of Federal ID Program

“If the federal government wants stricter ID standards, they should leave it to the states to come up with a way to implement them that works best for each individual state,” said Governor Mark Sanford in a statement after signing the bill at a Greenville DMV office.  “Until this top-down federal mandate is changed, South Carolina is going to continue to stand against joining this program, and I'd thank the General Assembly for joining me in sending that message to Washington.” 

COLUMBIA, SC - On January 11th, to coincide with the six-year anniversary of the arrival of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina launched its “Close Guantánamo” campaign.  ACLUSC along with many other groups, including Amnesty International, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, and the Carolina Peace Resource Center, rallied in front of the Strom Thurmond Federal Building. 

Local activists outside Strom Thurmond Federal Building seek end of Guantánamo Bay detention.

The ACLU hosted more than 20 events across the country, from Washington, DC, to Boise, Idaho.  In addition, the ACLU of South Carolina called on South Carolinians to wear orange, Friday, as an expression of opposition to torture and indefinite detention at the U.S.-run prison.  Orange, the color of the jumpsuits worn by the first Gitmo detainees in photographs released by the Department of Defense in 2002, was chosen to represent torture tactics and prisoner abuse.  The ACLU asks people to send letters to the editor, and letters to Congress, demanding an end to indefinite detention. 

Before the Rally, Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU’s National Security Project said, “We believe people will turn out in force to express their opposition to the symbol and reality of Guantánamo.”  “For six years, the Bush administration has flouted the Constitution and run roughshod over the international human rights system that the U.S. itself helped build.  On January 11th, we will send a clear message to the world that the administration must abandon its torture policies and shut down Guantánamo once and for all.” 

NEW YORK - Claiming “state secrets” were at stake, the U.S. government requested the dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against Boeing Company subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for its participation in the CIA’s unlawful “extraordinary rendition” program.

Steven Watt, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Human Rights Program and an attorney on the case said, “The whole world knows about the U.S. ‘extraordinary rendition’ program ...  Five men have been brutally abused under the ‘extraordinary rendition’ program with the help of a U.S. corporation.  These victims deserve their day in court, and Jeppesen must be held accountable for the instrumental role the company played in their suffering.” 

Columbia, SC - The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina congratulates the South Carolina congressmen who voted for an amendment to the House Intelligence Reauthorization Bill that would prevent illegal domestic wiretapping by the government.  James Clyburn (D-6th), Bob Inglis (R-4th), and John Spratt (D-5th) all voted for the bipartisan amendment, sponsored by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), that would reaffirm the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as the only lawful authority for the Federal Government to wiretap individuals in the United States for the sake of foreign intelligence. 

Caroline Fredrickson, Director Washington Legislative Office American Civil Liberties Union

“Congress has signaled that it will not allow the president to continue the National Security Agency’s illegal eavesdropping,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office.  “Passage of the Schiff/Flake amendment is Congress drawing a line in the sand.  This amendment reaffirms that FISA is the law and it needs to be followed.”  FISA was originally passed in 1978 in light of President Nixon's use of wiretaps to spy on his political opponents.  The bill created a secret court that reviews applications for wiretap warrants and, when the situation is urgent, permits the executive branch to get a retroactive warrant 72 hours after the fact.  Despite the availability of this emergency provision, however, the Bush Administration has admitted to wiretapping individuals without any court authorization whatsoever. 

Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union expressed strong support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) introduced Tuesday in the House of Representatives.  This legislation would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, and most conditions of employment.  

Caroline Fredrickson, Director Washington Legislative Office American Civil Liberties Union

“Sexual orientation and gender identity have nothing to do with job performance, and hardworking Americans should not be fired or denied employment based on characteristics irrelevant to job performance,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office.  “No one should ever lose a job based on sexual orientation or gender identity.  Everyone has a right to earn a living and take care of one's family.  ENDA stops job discrimination that violates core American values of liberty and equality.”  

C. Rauch Wise, Esq. Attorney for ACLUSC

Columbia, SC - The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina has joined with The Brennan Center for Justice, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, and the South Carolina Criminal Defense Lawyers to file an Amici Curiae or “friends of the court” brief in support of an indigent defendant’s right to appointed counsel when the defendant faces incarceration for nonpayment of support.   The “friends of the court” urged the State Supreme Court “to bring South Carolina into compliance with the constitutional mandates articulated by the United States Supreme Court by ordering appointed counsel to represent defendants in nonsupport proceedings.”  

COLUMBIA, SC - On April 3rd, the state Senate passed Senate Bill 449, which would keep the state from participating in the “Real ID” program unless certain requirements are met, including that the federal government provide full funding and guarantees that individuals' privacy and personal information be protected and secured. 

The Hon. James H. Merrill House Dist. 99 - Berkeley and Charleston Counties

The bill was introduced in the House on April 10th and referred to the Committee on Education and Public Works.  The legislation still needs the approval of the House and of Gov. Mark Sanford, who has already indicated that he would sign the bill. 

House Majority Leader Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, has predicted that the House would pass the measure, saying “We've started wars over the feds telling us what to do.”  The ACLU of South Carolina is urging citizens to support swift House passage of the legislation, so that South Carolina can join the states of Maine, Idaho, Arkansas, Montana, and Washington, who have already refused to participate in the “Real ID” program. 

Neil B. Caesar, Esq. Vice President ACLUSC

GREENVILLE, SC - The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina has called upon the Greenville County School District to remind school principals to respect the constitutional rights of public school students.  In a letter sent by ACLUSC Vice President Neil B. Caesar, to Greenville School Superintendent Dr. Phinnize Fisher, shcool officials were reminded “that public school students have the constitutional right to express their views in forums outside the school.  Schools should not take punitive actions against students whose stated views outside the school may be deemed negative or disagreeable by a principal.” 

According to news reports, Dr. Fisher had suspended several students for critical comments made about school personnel on a privately-owned, online, chat service.  Initially, the principal had also banned some of the students from future extra-curricular activities for making these comments. 

Joyce Farr Cheeks, Esq.

COLUMBIA, SC - The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a new radio campaign calling on presidential candidates campaigning in South Carolina to support legislation that restores habeas corpus and other due process protections eliminated by the Military Commission Act of 2006. 

Senator Larry A. Martin Dist. 2 - Pickens County

COLUMBIA, SC - “Real ID” is a costly and complicated national identity system that will violate privacy rights and create longer lines, higher fees, and bureaucratic nightmares for ordinary South Carolina citizens, without doing anything significant to make us safer. 

The ACLU of South Carolina urges citizens to oppose Creation of a National ID Card by supporting passage of Senate Bill 449, which “provides that the state will not participate in implementation of the [Real ID] Act” without privacy protections and adequate funding.  The bill's primary sponsor, Larry A. Martin, R-Pickens, says South Carolina needs to “rattle the cage” of Congress.  The bill is expected to go to the Senate floor soon. 

Neil B. Caesar Chairman, Religious Liberties Task Force

WALHALLA, SC - By a vote of 4 to 1, Oconee County Council ended its 16 months long defiance of the law.  Despite the First Amendment's prohibition of government sponsored sectarian prayer, council had been opening its meetings with a prayer “in the name of Jesus Christ.”  As a result of the vote, future Council meetings will begin with a minute of silence instead of a prayer. 

The ACLU had promised to file suit to “shut down the actions of Oconee County Council” if members continued to offer sectarian Christian prayer at council meetings.  The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in the recent case, Wynne v. Town of Great Falls, had stated, “The invocations at issue here, which specifically call upon Jesus Christ, are simply not constitutionally acceptable legislative prayer.” 

Kevin Alexander Gray Board President

COLUMBIA, SC - Legislative efforts to authorize the collection of DNA samples at routine police stops in South Carolina pose a serious threat to the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of individuals required to give such samples.  The ACLU of South Carolina announced its opposition to pre-filed Senate Bill 142, which would mandate compulsory extraction, collection, analysis, storage, and dissemination to law enforcement organizations the DNA of hundreds of thousands of South Carolina residents who have not been, and in many cases will never be, convicted of any crime.  If passed it will be the most draconian program for collection, retention, and sharing of DNA data in the United States. 

Kevin Alexander Gray Board President

COLUMBIA, SC - “The ACLU of South Carolina is not in the business of telling people how to vote.  Our client is the Constitution.  In that regard, we cheer the decision by the New Jersey Court to uphold the Constitution’s equal protection mandate.  On the other hand, we shall initiate all necessary preparations to defend the Constitution against the violation of that mandate should S.C.’s Amendment 1 pass on November 7th,” says Kevin Gray, President of the Board of Directors of the ACLU of SC. 

Darla Kaye Wynne

GREAT FALLS, SC - When Herb Buhl called Darla Kaye Wynne eleven months ago to tell her that she had won her case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, she felt a mix of emotions.  It was finally over -- or was it?  “The town council is already making noises in the press about ... going to the Supreme Court,” she said from her home in Great Falls, South Carolina.