ACLU of South Carolina

Update on June’s Activities

Dear ACLU Supporter,

The staff of the ACLU of South Carolina wishes you and your family continued health and a very happy start to summer. We’ve been as busy as ever working to build a South Carolina where We the People means everyone. Find a snapshot of our work over the last month below, and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions or want to have a conversation about our work.

In the Courts

Supreme Court update: The Supreme Court recently wrapped up another significant term that saw rulings on voting rights, free speech, and anti-discrimination protections. In a recent episode of At Liberty, ACLU’s weekly podcast, national ACLU Legal Director David Cole unpacked the impact of the recent term, weighed in on the term’s major civil liberties decisions, discussed the Trump appointees’ impact on the court, and offered a peek as to what lies ahead.

Here are the cliff notes: The Court largely confounded the predictions that it would veer sharply to the right. In fact, the Court decided most of its consequential cases by large margins, with liberals and conservatives joining in decisions that were decided narrowly, precisely to get people with different views to agree. For example, the Court issued a unanimous decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia in which the court refused to create a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people.

It was also telling which cases the Court didn’t take, including Arlene’s Flowers v. Washington, which involved a local flower shop that refused service to a same-sex couple. The Court let the couple’s victory at the Washington State Supreme Court stand – once again keeping a license to discriminate out of our constitution.

But the news was not all good. For example, in June the Court also narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and did so at a time where we are seeing sustained attacks on the fundamental right to vote across the country, including here in South Carolina.

As we look ahead to next term, the Court could decide the fates of a variety of critical issues including reproductive rights, affirmative action, and gun rights. Your ongoing support fuels this litigation and our other work organizing in communities and working in legislatures to address the root causes behind these cases in the first place.

In the Legislature

Latest Attacks on LGBTQ Youth: Last month, the Columbia City Council passed an ordinance to protect LGBTQ youth from so-called “conversion therapy,” a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. In response, the SC Senate tried to advance legislation that would undo the actions of the Columbia City Council. A Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee heard testimony on S. 811, the deceptively named “Medical Ethics and Diversity Act,” which would allow any medical practitioner, health care institution, or health care provider – broadly defined – to refuse to do anything they object to on the basis of “conscience,” including providing referrals or even urgently needed information to patients.

The exemptions offered under this law would allow people and institutions to engage in behavior that harms others with total impunity. For example:

  • A pharmacist could refuse to administer COVID-19 vaccines because they are morally or ethically opposed to vaccination
  • A nurse could refuse to assist in providing chemotherapy to a child with cancer because the child’s parents are a lesbian couple
  • A doctor could refuse to examine a patient wearing a t-shirt promoting a particular political candidate

Along with our coalition partners, we opposed this legislation and the committee decided to reevaluate the bill. But this is only a temporary victory. Our state lawmakers must not grant medical providers, institutions, and practitioners a “license to discriminate” for nearly any violation of any law at any time. We urge you to call your State Senator and share with them your position on this dangerous bill. Read our fact sheet to learn more.

In the Community

Reimagining Public Safety: In mid-June, we, along with our partners in the Justice for All Coalition, sent a memo to Charleston County Solicitor Wilson, Charleston County Sheriff Graziano, and Charleston County Council members outlining a set of reforms to create a less violent and more just public safety system. Included in this communication are things like ensuring protections for people who are incarcerated, implementing bail reforms, ending civil asset forfeiture, creating a Public Safety Accountability Council, and others.

This memo was sent in the wake of Jamal Sutherland’s death, who was killed by jail deputies at the Al Cannon Detention Center. Mr. Sutherland’s death was the result of a system that stops, arrests, convicts, and incarcerates Black and Brown people at staggering rates compared to white people. This same system forces police to be the solution for too many societal problems like a lack of mental health care, housing insecurity, and substance use. Our proposals will not fix injustices of the past, but they are a starting point for how we move forward. We look forward to engaging with local leaders and building Charleston County into a model across the state and country for how to create safe and just communities for all.

In the News

Public Safety:

Death Penalty:

Voting Rights:

LGBTQ Rights:

Thank You

Thank you for continuing to support the ACLU. People like you make our work possible, and we are enormously grateful to have you as a partner in our advocacy.

In solidarity,

ACLU of SC team

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