Podcasts

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. Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Apps

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