Dear ACLU Supporter,

On behalf of the ACLU of South Carolina staff, I wish you and your family a happy and healthy start to the spring season. Thank you for navigating to this update. This update will be the first in a series keeping you updated on the ACLU’s work in South Carolina. It has been an extremely busy month at the legislature, in the courts, and in the community. Below are some highlights of the work you made possible. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at the email address linked below if you have questions or want to more deeply discuss our priorities.

At the Legislature

South Carolinians are navigating a global health pandemic, people are having to choose between a paycheck and risking contracting a deadly virus, and incarcerated people are housed in facilities where social distance is possible. Amidst this, our legislators have been using this legislative session as an opportunity to attack our basic rights and freedoms. For example:

Attacking the Fundamental Right to Abortion: S.1 bans abortion after embryonic activity is detected, typically at 6 weeks. When combined with other barriers to abortion access including a lack of transportation, mandatory waiting periods, and cost, this amounts to a total ban on abortion for most people in South Carolina. Working with coalition partners, we lined up business and faith leaders, medical providers, and constitutional experts to educate lawmakers about the real-world harms and constitutional problems with this legislation. Despite this, legislators plowed ahead.  The bill was signed into law by Governor McMaster on February 18, 2021.  The next day, District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis issued a Temporary Restraining Order which blocked the enforcement of the law for a limited time.  After a full motion hearing, the Court issued a Preliminary Injunction on March 19, 2021 which bars the enforcement of the law during the pendency of the case. Abortion access will continue to work its way through the courts, but let’s be clear: abortion is a right, and we will always defend it.

Attacking Transgender Youth in Sports: In coalition with our partners, we successfully worked to stop H.3477 from advancing at the legislature. This bill would prohibit transgender youth in middle and high school from participating in student athletics. Transgender people of all ages have been participating in sports consistent with their gender at all levels for years, including at the Olympics since 2004 and in the NCAA since at least 2011. H.3477 solved a problem that did not exist and would be deeply harmful to transgender youth across the state. The vote marks a major step toward the defeat of the bill – and a step forward in the ongoing fight against anti-LGBTQ policies in South Carolina.

Granting Unchecked Legal Immunity for Religious Groups: The South Carolina House passed H.3105, legislation that would provide religious organizations a complete exemption from complying with any law whenever it claims to be engaged in religious activity. As just one example, under this bill, a religiously motivated hate group could avoid prosecution for criminal activities associated with its religious beliefs. This legislation would effectively prevent the government from imposing any restriction, liability, or consequence on a religious organization at any time. H. 3105 now moves to the South Carolina Senate for consideration, where we will actively organize against it.

Resurrecting the Electric Chair: While Virginia, another state in the south, recently passed legislation abolishing the death penalty, South Carolina legislators are working to keep the state’s machinery of death moving. The proposed bills S.200 and H.3755 would bring back the electric chair as the state’s default method of execution, and S.200 would also add firing squad as a method of execution. The death penalty system is racist, arbitrary, and error-prone. We will continue to oppose it while proactively laying the groundwork for abolition.

But wait, there’s more! This is a snapshot of some developments on our legislative priorities this session. You can learn more about other pieces of legislation, read fact sheets, and take action here.

In the Courts

Protecting incarcerated People in Jail: We filed a federal case in May 2020 challenging the constitutionality of the conditions of confinement at the Spartanburg Detention Center. This litigation was one of several aiming to hold South Carolina corrections officials and jail administrators accountable for protecting those in their care. This litigation also aimed to release medically vulnerable incarcerated people who are at increased risk from contracting and dying from COVID-19. We are approaching settlement in this case and expect to dramatically improve Spartanburg Detention Center conditions and streamline the review of detention of individuals held pre-trial. Much work still remains to correct the longstanding inadequacies and racist history of South Carolina’s prison and jails, but this litigation is a significant step in the right direction.

Protecting incarcerated People in Prison: In October, we settled a lawsuit against the South Carolina Department of Corrections that required SCDC to follow newly adopted procedures to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 for all people who are incarcerated in state prisons. As a result of this resolution, SCDC produced a COVID-19 response policy implementing procedures based on CDC guidelines, including sanitation and medical guidelines. We are continuing to monitor the implementation of this resolution and are pushing for updated guidance as COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out.

Abolishing Debtors’ Prison: Under the U.S. Constitution, people are not supposed to be jailed simply because they are too poor to pay court fines and fees, but that has not stopped South Carolina courts from engaging in this unconstitutional practice. This practice is particularly acute in Lexington County, so in June 2017, we sued. Earlier this month, we secured a major procedural victory in this case when a U.S. District Court Judge granted our request for class certification. This class certification means the judge recognizes the issues in the case extend beyond our individual plaintiffs, thus setting up the opportunity for a favorable decision to have a much broader impact as it would apply to all people similarly impacted by this practice in Lexington County. We are now preparing for trial, which should occur later this spring.

Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Earlier this month, we argued a case where a rising senior was expelled for a year as a result of a firearm being found locked in the trunk of his father’s car, which the student drove to school. Relying on its zero tolerance policy, the school refused to allow the student to present evidence which could have established that he had no knowledge of the presence of his dad’s firearm in the car. We urged the court to take one of two possible paths: read these important elements of knowledge and intent into the existing statute and require them to be considered at all expulsion hearings; or strike the existing statute down as unconstitutional. If we are successful, this could result in protecting countless young people from the litany of negative ramifications of zero tolerance policies, while at the same time improving overall public school safety.

In the Community

While the bulk of our organizing work is currently focused in Charleston and Orangeburg, thanks to your support we are laying the foundation for building a state-wide organizing presence. Charleston and Orangeburg are different in terms of their population density and resident makeup, but both are historically significant hubs for civil rights. We plan to achieve structural change in these local areas and leverage those wins to secure change at the state level.

Charleston People’s Budget Coalition: In coalition with our partners in the Charleston People’s Budget Coalition, we are working to reimagine public safety in the City of Charleston. Today in Charleston, nearly one-third of the city’s residents must choose between shelter and other basic necessities, like food and clothing. Pedestrians and cyclists face one of the highest fatality rates in the country, mental health and substance use treatment services are sorely lacking, and gentrification is pushing Black and Brown communities out of our once diverse city at lightning speed. The list goes on. Yet instead of investing in solutions to these pressing public safety needs, the city is pouring 26 percent of all city budget funds into the Charleston Police Department. This is despite the fact that 86.2 percent of recent arrests were for nonviolent, largely low-level offenses like marijuana possession or open alcohol containers. Even more concerningly, these arrests were carried out with a staggering racial bias. With our partners, we are working to ensure that Charleston invests in its people and communities instead of police and incarceration.

Orangeburg: In Orangeburg, we are working to build the foundational infrastructure needed to shift power at the grassroots level. We are building partnerships with aligned community stakeholders, including leaders in education, the criminal justice system, and local elected officials. We are building power around our criminal justice priorities by establishing collegiate chapters at Claflin and SC State Universities. We have also advocated for a number of other changes, such as moving city council meeting times from the morning to the evening to encourage wider community participation. These accomplishments are small in the sphere of organizing, but huge in a community that has not seen focused systemic advocacy since the mid to late 1960s and 1970s.

In the News

Thank You

We are proud of what we have accomplished over the last month, and I hope you are, too. You make this work possible – and we are deeply grateful for your support. Please send me a message if you have questions or comments. Thank you for working with us to build a South Carolina where We the People means everyone.

 

In solidarity,

Nick Mercer

Principal and Leadership Gifts Manager

nmercer@aclusc.org

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