News & Commentary

July 30, 2012. American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in 38 states including South Carolina sent requests today to local police departments and state agencies that demand information on how they use automatic license plate readers (ALPR) to track and record Americans’ movements.

“Both sides of the immigration debate claimed victory on Monday, June 26, finding something to celebrate in the decision.”

July 3, 2012. The Greenville News. The recent Supreme Court ruling on S.B. 1070 represents a strong rebuke to Arizona lawmakers who involved their state in immigration enforcement, and it should put our politicians on guard against passing or implementing further unconstitutional measures. The Supreme Court struck down three of the four Arizona provisions considered on the grounds that states do not have the authority to regulate immigration. It expressed concerns that the fourth provision, the controversial “show me your papers” requirement, might well be impossible to enforce without violating federal law. The Court strongly suggested that this could lead to such provisions being struck down, while indicating that it is too early to tell if “show me your papers” is unconstitutional as well.In our view, it will be impossible to implement South Carolina’s copycat version, SB20/Act 69, without relying on racial profiling. It is impossible to enforce these provisions without using race, color or ethnicity. Such inherently unequal treatment of people is clearly unconstitutional.

June 26, 2012From the Charleston Post and Courier

Charleston Post & CourierJune 28, 2012

In recent months, the Catholic Church’s push to protect “religious freedom” has intensified. The spark that ignited this latest debate was the Obama administration’s requireme

The Supreme Court ruled today that the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA), which reduced the disparity in federal sentencing between crack and powder cocaine, applies to people whose offenses pre-date the law but who were sentenced after its passage. Read the opinion here.

The state ACLU has intervened in the voter ID lawsuit South Carolina v. Holder, claiming that requiring photo ID places an unnecessary burden on voters, primarily African Americans, elderly and low-income residents.

A contentious proposal that would give tax breaks to South Carolina families with kids in private schools might be dead this year — but this session’s battle has advanced the issue further than ever in what advocates contend is a long war. The legislative session is almost over, and other issues like the