News & Commentary

Mr. Moore's execution is still postponed due to a temporary stay issued by the South Carolina Supreme Court. Tell Governor McMaster to put a stop to this execution.

The Charleston Police Department (CPD) seeks City of Charleston tax dollars to expand its body camera program. The Charleston City Council must ensure strong policies governing the use of body cameras by CPD before providing CPD with additional revenue for its body camera program. Without strong policies, body cameras become just another tool to hide law enforcement abuses. Specifically, the Charleston City Council must ensure CPD’s body camera policy includes the following mandates:

Along with our partners at South Carolina for Criminal Justice Reform (SC4CJR), today we sent a letter expressing concerns about the city of Charleston’s assessment of its response to the uprising in Charleston on May 30 and 31, 2020. In a letter to Mayor Tecklenburg, Charleston Police Chief Reynolds, and Charleston City Council, we provided an analysis of objections to the city’s assessment and reiterated our opposition to mass police violence in and around Marion Square on the afternoon and evening of Sunday, May 31, 2020. 

Along with our partners Arnold & Porter, today we announced a resolution in Voltz-Loomis, et. al, v. McMaster, et. al., our federal  lawsuit filed on behalf of people incarcerated by the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC). The suit sought immediate relief to protect incarcerated people during COVID-19. Today’s resolution requires 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 the resolution, SCDC has produced a COVID-19 response policy implementing procedures based on CDC guidelines, including sanitation and medical guidelines. Additional policy provisions include: 

This past weekend, people protesting in Charleston for racial justice and against police violence were again met with police violence. This has become a disturbing pattern.This recent police escalation comes nearly three months after Charleston area law enforcement departments, including the Charleston Police Department, participated in mass police violence on May 31 in Marion Square, deploying potentially lethal weapons against people peacefully protesting. And, later that night area law enforcement continued their violence against Eastside community members.Our city leaders must not allow this police brutality to continue. Our repeated calls (here and here) for accountability have been met with silence from Charleston Police Chief Reynolds and other local and statewide law enforcement leaders whose officers have repeatedly executed this violence against protestors. It is unconscionable that law enforcement have chosen to respond to community concerns about police violence with silence.It has been over eight months since the publication of the CPD racial bias audit, which found, among other things, that Black community members were 2.8 times more likely to face the use of force from CPD officers. Despite these serious concerns documented in the audit, 2020 CPD data continues to paint a disturbing picture. For example, while Black and white people use marijuana at roughly the same rate, so far this year Black people are approximately 8 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession and 10 times more likely to be cited in Charleston. And, these disparities have increased over the 2019 disparity rates.The recent police violence coupled with the continued massive racial disparities in the enforcement of our laws is a contradiction of city leaders’ claims to be invested in racial justice.Over the past several years, the City of Charleston has taken steps to demonstrate to the community a concern for racial justice, including apologizing for its role in slavery, commissioning a racial bias audit of the police department, establishing the “Special Commission on Equity Inclusion and Racial Reconciliation,” and removing the Calhoun monument from Marion Square.Now is the time to follow these gestures with concrete actions to reduce harms enacted on Black people in Charleston. In the birthplace of America’s first police force which was originally established as a slave patrol, this expansion of policing is a direct dismissal of the outcries of Black people who continue to be oppressed by the racist foundation and structure of policing in Charleston.Law enforcement’s perpetuation of these violent attempts to silence their critics serves as an important reminder that our policing system isn't broken — it's working as it was designed. Police actions this past weekend made another great case for why we must drastically reduce the role of policing in our society, especially in communities of color that historically have been over-policed. 

Today we sent a second letter to the City of Charleston reiterating objections to mass police violence in and around Marion Square by the Charleston Police Department (CPD) on the afternoon and evening of Sunday, May 31, 2020. This action follows an initial letter we sent on June 2 calling on local law enforcement leaders to publicly explain their rationale for responding to non-violent protests against police violence with more police violence. The June 2 letter also issued a list of demands including a public apology from law enforcement leaders as well as outlined plans for holding officers accountable and guaranteeing people’s right to protest in Charleston.On June 22, nearly 60 days since this police brutality, the city finally responded. In their letter, they bypassed our questions and demands and defended law enforcement’s actions on May 31.The CPD has attempted to justify its actions on May 31 by pointing to events that happened during the previous evening. But, the CPD’s own policy on use of force clearly states that force is only justified in times of imminent danger. A past event, even by their own standard, is not an acceptable reason for Charleston police officers to carry out mass violence and deploy potentially lethal weapons against people peacefully exercising their Constitutional rights.In addition to the use of force policy outlined in the CPD’s General Administrative Order, officers also violated the department’s rules on the use of chemical agents, which are only deemed necessary “where a serious danger to life and property exists and other methods of apprehension would be ineffective or more dangerous.”Our letter also raises concerns about excessive and unprovoked violence carried out by police on residents of Charleston’s Eastside neighborhood on the evening of May 31. The city and Charleston Police Chief Reynolds have dismissed concerns from Eastside residents and their allies about CPD’s violent actions in their neighborhood. This excessive, unprovoked police action is a part of a pattern against Black Eastside community members that cannot be ignored. Residents have called for services that will improve safety and, instead, CPD is using city resources to increase patrols. We know what happens when police go down this road, it’s not new. All this will do is further criminalize Black and poor people. 

Following the murder of Walter Scott by the North Charleston Police Department five years ago, South Carolina lawmakers passed legislation requiring all law enforcement officers to wear body cameras. In the five years since the law’s passage, law enforcement have turned a tool sold to the public as a way to strengthen law enforcement accountability and community trust of law enforcement into a tool to shield law enforcement officers from accountability. As calls for expanding body camera programs grow in the wake of more police violence, lawmakers must codify strong policies governing their use, including the following mandates:

We are united in solidarity with incarcerated people and their loved ones and allies. The recent spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths among our state’s prison population is the tragic result of a failure of leadership.South Carolina has a moral and legal obligation to protect the people it incarcerates. For months we have asked Governor Henry McMaster, Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling, and the Board of Paroles and Pardons 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.Because South Carolina’s leaders have failed to uphold their Constitutional duty to protect people in their custody, in April, we filed a federal lawsuit against them. The judge assigned to our case has ordered us to work with the state to find ways that will improve conditions for incarcerated people.These priorities include:

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.