While I Breathe Podcast

As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) goes rogue and violates our civil liberties, South Carolinians are demanding that their local law enforcement agencies stop signing new ICE collaboration agreements under the 287(g) program. For the second half of our two-part series on the mass deportation agenda in our state, we’re headed to the Lowcountry to hear how locals are pushing back.

Curious if your local police have signed an ICE collaboration agreement? Check the map on our blog post, "Are your local police collaborating with ICE?"

If you or someone you know have experienced an immigration raid in South Carolina, we would like to hear your story. Hearing community members’ stories helps us understand how rights are being violated as part of immigration enforcement efforts. We have a form you can fill out, with bilingual instructions in Spanish and English, at ⁠aclusc.org/redada⁠.

Our petition against a proposed ICE detention camp in South Carolina has 13,000 signatures and counting. Add your name and share it with your friends at aclusc.org/ice25⁠.

The ICE Block app mentioned by our guests in the final segment of the episode is no longer available on the leading mobile app stores due to government censorship. For more information about the Charleston-area ICE verification hotline, which is run by volunteers and does not use the app, follow ⁠@chs_hotline⁠ on Instagram.

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On June 18 at a strip mall in a small town in the far Upstate of South Carolina, Homeland Security Investigations arrested 10 people at Puerto Nuevo, a popular Mexican restaurant. What really happened that day? And why is communication breaking down between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve in places like Oconee County? Today's episode explores the way the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda is sowing chaos, fear, and confusion — and the way people in small towns like West Union, S.C., are pushing back to protect their neighbors.

We had so much ground to cover, we decided to split this episode into two parts. Up next on Episode 16, we’ll continue unpacking what really happened at other immigration raids around the state, including the infamous June 1 raid in Ladson. We’ll also travel to Beaufort County, where hundreds of locals have shown up to oppose a 287(g) agreement signed by their sheriff. This fight is far from over.

To see our map of 287(g) agreements and check the status of your local sheriff's office, go to aclusc.org/287g

If you would like to sign a petition against the ICE detention camp being proposed by candidates for governor in South Carolina, go to aclusc.org/ice25

If you would like to volunteer with the ACLU of South Carolina in support of immigrants' rights or other constitutional rights, we have a quick interest form you can fill out at aclusc.org/volunteer

Another way you can help out is by volunteering with one of the ICE hotlines being created by volunteers across the state. Currently the hotline covering Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties is up and running. If you are interested in learning more, follow @chs_hotline on Instagram or search for "CHS Hotline / CHS Linea Directa Comunitaria Inmigrante" on Facebook.

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A medically discredited practice known as “conversion therapy” seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ+ people. Medical experts long ago reached the conclusion that this practice is harmful, and many of the leading founders of “ex-gay” organizations have apologized and renounced their own work in the past decade. So why are South Carolina’s most powerful politicians pushing to bring it back?

This week on the podcast, we’re diving deep with survivors of conversion therapy and the Columbia locals who showed up in droves to oppose the City of Columbia’s recent decision to rescind a ban on juvenile conversion therapy. What does it mean when the capital city takes a big step backward like it did this spring?

Links to organizations mentioned in the episode:

Harriet Hancock Center: https://www.harriethancockcenter.org/
PFLAG: https://pflag.org/findachapter/
ACLU of South Carolina: https://www.aclusc.org/en/news/5-things-know-about-conversion-therapy-columbia-south-carolina

Articles referenced:

“I survived conversion therapy. Columbia shouldn’t support it.” https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/free-times/opinion/column-conversion-therapy-survivor-columbia-sc-ban/article_66bb062f-ac20-4169-ae45-1e7c93461dfa.html
“'Taught to hate myself': How gay conversion therapy in SC is thriving” https://www.postandcourier.com/news/taught-to-hate-myself-how-gay-conversion-therapy-in-sc-is-thriving/article_3b53124c-abb9-11e8-8428-ef7b8427bd63.html
“One of the nation's largest conversion therapy networks is disbanding” https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/one-nation-s-largest-conversion-therapy-networks-disbanding-n1231574

Music on this episode is by Daft Hartley and A Spot on the Hill.

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You sent in questions for your transgender neighbors in South Carolina. Now we’re answering them.

For the Season 2 premiere, we’re hosting a panel conversation with transgender South Carolinians from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. Eboni Sims (she/her), Sterling Misanin (he/him), and Gwenn McClune (she/her) share their joys, struggles, and insights as trans people living in the Palmetto State.

Our podcast co-host Jace Woodrum (he/him) serves as moderator for the panel. He also shares some of his own stories as a trans man from our state — and the first-ever trans executive director of an ACLU affiliate (sorry, not sorry, we’re going to keep bragging about that).

If you would like to help advocate for the rights of trans South Carolinians — and South Carolinians — please fill out a volunteer interest form at aclusc.org/volunteer. To learn more about our court case representing Sterling and challenging the constitutionality of our state’s gender-affirming care ban, go to aclusc.org/mvw.

Ever heard the name Howard Rich? How about Jeff Yass? You didn’t vote for them, but they and a handful of other out-of-state billionaires have been leading the push to fund private religious schools with public money in South Carolina.

On this episode we are joined by Professor Josh Cowen, author of the 2024 book The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers. As someone who has investigated the outcomes of private school vouchers in other states, he speaks out on these programs’ terrible academic track record, the pitfalls of voucher schools for students with learning disabilities, the havoc they wreak on rural schools’ education funding, and the ugly segregationist history of voucher campaigns from Brown v. Board to the present day.

For more information and links to studies and news coverage, see our recent blog post, "The ugly truth about school vouchers."

Now is a good time for lawmakers to hear from their constituents who oppose school vouchers. Our friends at the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center have set up a page to help you contact your state senator, including some suggested language for an email: https://www.votervoice.net/SCJustice/Campaigns/120058/Respond

Music featured on this episode is by Daft Hartley. The audio clips at the start and end of the episode are of South Carolina Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver, speaking at an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation on June 6, 2024. You can hear her further comments about “an overtly faith-based education” on our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aclusc/reel/C8mVOLwBd3e/

Even stricter abortion bans? Juvenile justice reform? Legalizing pinball for minors? All of these ideas and more are on the table as the South Carolina General Assembly prepares for its next session to begin in January 2025. We’ve been getting ready. Join us as we preview what’s to come.

Music on this episode is by Daft Hartley.

While I Breathe is available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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This episode is about a South Carolina law that discriminates against trans adults, trans youth, and the families of trans youth. We’re suing to defend the rights of our fellow South Carolinians.

The lawsuit is Misanin v. Wilson. Guests on today’s show are Executive Director Jace Woodrum and Staff Attorney Meredith McPhail. You can read more about our case here.

For a future episode, we will be assembling a panel of transgender and nonbinary South Carolinians to answer honest questions people have about their experiences. If you would like to submit a question for us to ask on the air, please email it to [email protected]. Include the words “Podcast Question” in the subject line.

While I Breathe is available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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We're suing to end partisan gerrymandering in South Carolina. This week on the podcast we are joined by Lynn Teague, Vice President for Issues and Action with the League of Women Voters of South Carolina.

When we said we'd keep fighting after the unfortunate 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Alexander v. SC NAACP in May, we really meant it. To read more about the case and the struggle for representative democracy in our state, visit ⁠the case page for our new case, League of Women Voters of South Carolina v. Alexander.

Music on this episode is by Daft Hartley.

Dr. Herb Silverman ran for governor of South Carolina to challenge the state’s unconstitutional religious oath requirement for public office. Today we are joined by Herb as well as Dr. Bonnie Cleaveland, a leader with the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry who has found herself tangled up in a fight over comprehensive sex education in the Charleston County School District.

Secular Coalition for America: https://secular.org/

Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry: https://lowcountryhumanists.org/

Herb’s website: https://www.herbsilverman.com/

PRRI survey: “Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States” https://www.prri.org/research/support-for-christian-nationalism-in-all-50-states/

Theme music by Daft Hartley.

Book banning fights used to be hyper-local affairs, argued and settled in county school board meetings. The current censorship wave seeks to impose ideological purity at the level of state government, and the self-appointed bookshelf cops have rich and powerful allies on their side.

Today we’re talking about local and statewide censorship battles with school librarian Katherine Freligh and ACLU-SC Advocacy Director Josh Malkin.

If you would like to join the Freedom to Read SC Coalition, visit aclusc.org/FTR. Music on this episode is by Daft Hartley and A Spot on the Hill.

There’s an old saying that South Carolina is too small for a republic but too large for an insane asylum. But what if there was a better way of thinking about our state’s problems? What if we knew our system of representative democracy was broken on purpose, and we could name the people who broke it? And what if we fought back?

On this episode, we’re diving deep on gerrymandering. Members of our legal team have an update on our landmark racial gerrymandering case that received a devastating 6-3 opinion from the Supreme Court this week. They also give us some ideas of how to keep fighting even when the system seems rigged.

If you would like to learn more and sign a petition to end gerrymandering in South Carolina, visit aclusc.org/fairmaps.

Music on today’s podcast is by Daft Hartley and A Spot on the Hill.

May 9th, 2024, marked the end of a two-year legislative session in the South Carolina State House ... sort of. On this episode we dig into the bad bills that passed, the bad bills we stopped, and how we can fight back against a legislature that’s increasingly hostile to civil liberties.

One bill that is still live in the legislature is the classroom censorship bill, H. 3728. If you would like to join the more than 600 South Carolinians who have written to the conference committee members asking them to stop this censorship bill, you can do so at aclusc.org/censor24

If you would like to take one small action to end partisan gerrymandering today, we have more information and a petition you can sign at aclusc.org/fairmaps

Music credits: A Spot on the Hill, Daft Hartley

Our guests are three people living with the consequences of South Carolina’s extreme anti-abortion law. They are Dr. Jessica Tarleton, an OB/GYN from South Carolina; and Emma and Zach Giglio, a married couple from Summerville who were forced to seek an abortion out of state.

To sign the Repeal the Ban petition, visit aclusc.org/RepealTheBan.

Repeal the Ban

Disclaimer: The participants in this podcast episode are not lawyers, and the contents of this episode should not be taken as legal advice.

Music on today’s episode is by Daft Hartley and A Spot on the Hill.

Today we're going to housing court. South Carolina is in the midst of an eviction crisis, and special dockets within local courts have been set up to hear case after case of residential evictions. We'll listen in on some high-stakes, high-stress cases.

On the second half of the episode, our guest is Charlotte Martin, a renter and organizer with the South Carolina Housing Justice Network. We're talking about how tenants can build power and protect each other's rights.

Music credits: A Spot on the Hill and Daft Hartley.

For more information about the S.C. Housing Justice Network, visit ⁠SCHJN.com⁠. To write your lawmaker in support of Eviction Right to Counsel, visit ⁠ACLUSC.org/eviction⁠.

The eviction crisis is ongoing in South Carolina. Our first guest today is Tony Jones, a student at the University of South Carolina School of Law who has a deeply frustrating story to share involving South Carolina's landlord-tenant laws.

In the second half of the show, we have an interview with Michelle Mapp about what Eviction Right to Counsel means and how we can achieve it.

Use this link to write your lawmaker about Eviction Right to Counsel and South Carolina House Bill 3844, which could make that right a reality: aclusc.org/eviction

Our study on the economic benefits of Eviction Right to Counsel: ⁠https://www.aclusc.org/en/south-carolina-renters-should-have-right-legal-counsel-when-facing-eviction⁠

Eviction Lab study on serial eviction filings in Charleston, S.C., and Birmingham, AL: ⁠https://evictionlab.org/serial-eviction-filings/

Music credits: A Spot on the Hill, Daft Hartley

Being homeless in the capital city of South Carolina means having your rights curtailed. Your daily decisions about where to sit, eat, or sleep are in part made up for you; your range of movement is limited; and your actions are closely monitored by police. One wrong move and you’re arrested, spending the night in one of the most dangerous jails in South Carolina. Being homeless in Columbia is, in short, a civil liberties nightmare.

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into the root causes of homelessness and the eviction crisis. Our guests are homeless aid provider Regi- Solis and Glynnis Hagins of the South Carolina NAACP.

For more information about South Carolina housing justice issues, visit our Housing Justice landing page.

For more about Columbia’s ineffective, inhumane, illegal response to homelessness, see our open letter Homes, Not Handcuffs.

If you would like to push for housing justice in our state, ask your state lawmaker to cosponsor House Bill 3844, guaranteeing Eviction Right to Counsel.

Music by Daft Hartley and A Spot on the Hill

“While I Breathe, I Hope.” It’s the state motto of South Carolina. It’s about surviving and fighting and overcoming despair.

This is Paul Bowers from the ACLU of South Carolina, here to announce we’re starting a podcast. It’s called While I Breathe. It’ll be a wide-ranging program about the most important civil rights and civil liberties issues of our time. We’ll feature interviews with people living and working on the front lines. I hope you’ll join me as we learn a few things and get to work building the state we deserve.

The first several episodes will be about housing justice. We live in a national hotspot for evictions, and we want to change that, in part by guaranteeing more civil liberties for people facing eviction from their homes. I can’t wait for you to hear it. Go ahead and subscribe via the links below, and you’ll be hearing from us soon.

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