South Carolina
Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP

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Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP
Voting Rights
Status: Ongoing
South Carolina unlawfully assigned voters to congressional districts based on their race and intentionally discriminated against Black voters in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
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All Cases
10 South Carolina Cases
South Carolina
Sep 2023

Rogers v. Health and Human Services
Eden Rogers and Brandy Welch were turned away by a government-funded foster care agency for failing to meet the agency’s religious criteria which exclude prospective foster parents who are not evangelical Protestant Christian or who are same-sex couples of any faith.
Status: Ongoing
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South Carolina
LGBTQ Rights
Rogers v. Health and Human Services
Eden Rogers and Brandy Welch were turned away by a government-funded foster care agency for failing to meet the agency’s religious criteria which exclude prospective foster parents who are not evangelical Protestant Christian or who are same-sex couples of any faith.
Sep 2023
Status: Ongoing
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South Carolina
Mar 2023

Brown v. Lexington County, et al
This case is part of a nationwide fight against criminalization of poverty and, specifically, debtors’ prisons. On June 1, 2017, the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, the ACLU of South Carolina, and Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC filed a federal lawsuit challenging the illegal arrest and incarceration of indigent people in Lexington County, South Carolina, for failure to pay fines and fees, without determining willfulness or providing assistance to counsel. Those targeted by this long-standing practice could avoid jail only if they paid the entire amount of outstanding court fines and fees up front and in full. Indigent people who were unable to pay were incarcerated for weeks to months without ever seeing a judge, having a court hearing, or receiving help from a lawyer. The result was one of the most draconian debtors’ prisons uncovered by the ACLU since 2010.
Status: Ongoing
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South Carolina
Smart Justice
Racial Justice
Brown v. Lexington County, et al
This case is part of a nationwide fight against criminalization of poverty and, specifically, debtors’ prisons. On June 1, 2017, the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, the ACLU of South Carolina, and Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC filed a federal lawsuit challenging the illegal arrest and incarceration of indigent people in Lexington County, South Carolina, for failure to pay fines and fees, without determining willfulness or providing assistance to counsel. Those targeted by this long-standing practice could avoid jail only if they paid the entire amount of outstanding court fines and fees up front and in full. Indigent people who were unable to pay were incarcerated for weeks to months without ever seeing a judge, having a court hearing, or receiving help from a lawyer. The result was one of the most draconian debtors’ prisons uncovered by the ACLU since 2010.
Mar 2023
Status: Ongoing
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South Carolina
Feb 2023

CYAP v. Wilson
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s “disturbing schools” law. The law allows students in school to be criminally charged for normal adolescent behaviors including loitering, cursing, or undefined “obnoxious” actions on school grounds. The ACLU is also challenging a similarly vague “disorderly conduct” law, which prohibits students from conducting themselves in a “disorderly or boisterous manner.” The statutes violate due process protections of the Constitution.
Status: Ongoing
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South Carolina
Juvenile Justice
+2 Issues
CYAP v. Wilson
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s “disturbing schools” law. The law allows students in school to be criminally charged for normal adolescent behaviors including loitering, cursing, or undefined “obnoxious” actions on school grounds. The ACLU is also challenging a similarly vague “disorderly conduct” law, which prohibits students from conducting themselves in a “disorderly or boisterous manner.” The statutes violate due process protections of the Constitution.
Feb 2023
Status: Ongoing
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South Carolina
Sep 2020

Thomas v. Andino
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a federal lawsuit on April 22, 2020, over South Carolina’s failure to take action to ensure all eligible voters can vote by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic — even for its fast-approaching June 9 statewide primary elections.
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South Carolina
Voting Rights
Thomas v. Andino
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a federal lawsuit on April 22, 2020, over South Carolina’s failure to take action to ensure all eligible voters can vote by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic — even for its fast-approaching June 9 statewide primary elections.
Sep 2020
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South Carolina
Oct 2019

White v. Shwedo
In the latest front in the nationwide fight against the criminalization of poverty, on October 31, 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, Southern Poverty Law Center, and South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center filed a federal lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s policy of automatically suspending the driver’s licenses of people with unpaid traffic tickets. The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles does not ensure that people who cannot pay will not lose their licenses in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of due process and equal protection under the law. South Carolina’s wealth-based license suspensions impact more than 190,000 people, funneling those who are unable to pay, particularly poor people of color, deep into cycles of poverty, job loss, traffic violations, and entanglement with the legal system.
Status: Ongoing
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South Carolina
Racial Justice
White v. Shwedo
In the latest front in the nationwide fight against the criminalization of poverty, on October 31, 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, Southern Poverty Law Center, and South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center filed a federal lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s policy of automatically suspending the driver’s licenses of people with unpaid traffic tickets. The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles does not ensure that people who cannot pay will not lose their licenses in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of due process and equal protection under the law. South Carolina’s wealth-based license suspensions impact more than 190,000 people, funneling those who are unable to pay, particularly poor people of color, deep into cycles of poverty, job loss, traffic violations, and entanglement with the legal system.
Oct 2019
Status: Ongoing
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