News & Commentary

Our Department of Juvenile Justice is in crisis. And there is an urgent need to take immediate action to ensure that the youth and staff in our juvenile facilities are safe.

    

We have called on schools and elected leaders to end arrests for minor misbehavior and fix South Carolina’s outdated and unfair “disturbing schools” law, which can lead to children arrested for being “obnoxious.”

In a situation where a police officer uses deadly force against an unarmed citizen, the public has a legitimate interest in knowing what took place and how the police officers behaved.

Research show that incarcerating children - even for very short periods of time - increases the likelihood they will have further involvement in the juvenile justice and adult prison system.

Our state is hazardous to women's health. An extreme or alarmist statement? Not really.

"We absolutely can’t keep kicking the can down the road,” Rutherford said. He said he hopes the bill will be amended on the House floor to more match the Senate version.

Equipping officers with body-worn cameras has the support from top politicians, including Gov. Nikki Haley, and state police and legal groups, including the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers' Association, S.C. Sheriffs’ Association and S.C. Bar.

The ACLU of South Carolina urges state and federal officials to conduct a thorough investigation into the practices of the North Charleston Police Department following the fatal shooting last weekend of Walter Scott.