News & Commentary

March 11, 2014. Summerville. Charleston Post & Courier. Summerville Public Safety Director Bruce Owens wants to toughen the existing town law against loitering, to give police "legal footing" to enforce it on private properties, he told Town Council at a committee meeting Monday. The American Civil Liberties Union's South Carolina office has concerns with how a proposed amendment intends to do that.

Womb warriors

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press March 3, 2014

February 24, 2014. Channel 7/WSPA. By Chris Abbotts. South Carolina is holding on to information gathered from license plate scanners for three years, a time frame some civil libertarians say is too long.

February 10, 2014. Charleston. ABC News 4. By Gregory Woods. A bill proposed by state lawmakers would set the limit in which a pregnant woman can have an abortion at 19 weeks.

February 5, 2014. Columbia. Free Times. By Porter Barron, Jr. -- Last month, thanks to the S.C House of Representatives, the Palmetto State joined more than 40 states trying to restrict the use of drones by state and local law enforcement agencies, arguing drone technology has outpaced laws governing their use and threatens basic privacy rights.

January 18, 2014. Associated Press. By Meg Kinnard. Civil liberties and mental health advocates say the South Carolina Department of Corrections shouldn't challenge a court order that the agency come up with a plan to better deal with its mentally ill inmates, agreeing with the judge that more proceedings just mean more taxpayer dollars spent in court and not on inmate care.

Black students make up 79 percent of Charleston County discipline cases referred to police

October 30, 2013. Free Times. Columbia. By Eva Moore. City leaders continue to tweak their ideas for cracking down on crime as fears mount about gangs in Five Points and citywide. But a plan to ban suspected gang members from certain parts of the city raises some concerns among civil liberties groups.