News & Commentary

Since the Minneapolis Police Department murdered George Floyd on May 25, law enforcement in South Carolina and across the nation have responded to non-violent protests against police violence with more violence. 

This op ed was published by the Charleston City Paper on June 4, 2020. On Sunday afternoon, multiple police departments converged in Charleston, S.C. to break up peaceful protests calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality against black people. Their actions made another great case for why we must drastically reduce policing in our society, especially in communities of color that historically have been over-policed. Their response to a non-violent protest about police violence was pure and unnecessary brutality. It was both unbelievable and predictable. Read the full piece here. 

We sent a letter today to the leaders of law enforcement agencies whose officers participated in violent actions against non-violent protestors in Charleston on Sunday, May 31. We observed as police officers actively pursued peaceful protestors, making arrests and firing projectiles and chemicals. The brutality we witnessed matches additional complaints we have received from individuals in Charleston and other parts of South Carolina. These actions were clear, dangerous, and counterproductive responses to people exercising their Constitutional rights. Our letter calls for a public apology for officers’ actions, plan for investigating and holding officers who used excessive force accountable, and steps agencies will take to protect and ensure the fundamental right to protest.

No one should have to choose between their health and their right to vote. Earlier this month, the South Carolina General Assembly passed legislation allowing all registered voters to vote by mail in the upcoming June 9 primary election. On Monday, a federal court ruled favorably in our lawsuit, blocking a requirement that forced people who vote absentee to obtain a witness signature. 

Along with our partners Root & Rebound, South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center and Wyche, P.A., we filed a lawsuit today in the United States District Court challenging Spartanburg County’s failure to protect incarcerated people from risks associated with a COVID-19 outbreak in custodial settings. Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc. (P&A) also joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff on behalf of incarcerated people with disabilities. Defendants named in the suit are Sheriff Chuck Wright and Jail Administrator Allen Freeman. 

This op ed was published by The State on May 22, 2020.COVID-19 has made it harder to ignore our failures as a society. Workers are forced to choose between their health and a paycheck. Children who lack internet access at home do not receive an equal education. Tens of millions of people are forced to navigate a global health pandemic without health insurance. Incarcerated people are locked in crowded facilities where social distancing is impossible. People who lost their job face the loss of their home.

COVID-19 has illuminated our failures as a society. To urge decision makers to minimize the harms made worse by this pandemic, today we released a blueprint for COVID-19 relief in South Carolina. The blueprint calls on our leaders to ensure the burdens of the pandemic do not unfairly fall on South Carolina’s most vulnerable communities and that all responses are rooted in science and public health and are no more intrusive on civil liberties than necessary. To ensure a COVID-19 response that protects all people, South Carolina must: 

While the challenges facing our state and nation during the COVID-19 crisis are significant, they do not relieve South Carolina of its legal obligations. In the education context, those obligations are clear: As the United States Supreme Court wrote in Brown v. Board of Education, “[I]t is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”

South Carolina has a moral and legal obligation to protect the people it incarcerates. For weeks we have asked South Carolina officials to uphold this obligation in the face of COVID-19, including releasing those most vulnerable to contracting and dying from this virus. South Carolina officials have ignored their responsibility. The consequences are tragic and predicted. James Slater, a 70-year-old man incarcerated at Allendale Correctional Institution, died yesterday from COVID-19. To be clear, no one in custody should die in connection to abuse or neglect by the state.Mr. Slater’s death was preventable. The rate of recidivism for people over age 65 is nearly 0%, meaning almost all incarcerated people over age 65 pose virtually no threat to public safety. Additionally, there are multiple avenues by which Mr. Slater and other incarcerated people his age or older could have been released to a safer environment ahead of a COVID-19 outbreak. The Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) has the authority to petition the parole board to release people who are 70 years of age or older. During a state of emergency, the Governor has the authority to do anything necessary to keep people safe. Neither SCDC nor the Governor, we tragically learned yesterday, has upheld their duty to protect.The virus’s ability to spread through asymptomatic carriers has been well-documented. For example, correctional institutions across the country that have issued mass testing have found that as much as 70% of the population of a single institution has tested positive for COVID-19, with a vast majority showing no symptoms at all. Therefore, testing and monitoring only those who are symptomatic is neither a solution nor a good faith effort.It is absolutely essential that those with the authority to act do everything in their immense power to prevent future deaths from COVID-19 in correctional settings. This includes ordering mass testing of all incarcerated people and staff and substantially reducing the number of people held in South Carolina’s prisons and jails.