Criminal justice
Governor signs law adjusting how SC picks its judges but calls for more ‘meaningful’ reform
COLUMBIA – South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed into law legislation tweaking how judges are selected in the state but called on legislators to do more next year to improve the process. The compromise legislation made some adjustments to the judicial selection process. It puts in term limits for the panelists who screen judicial candidates, […]
SCOTUS rejects lawsuit alleging feds bullied social media into censoring content
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected arguments by Missouri and Louisiana that the federal government violated the First Amendment in its efforts to combat false, misleading and dangerous information online. In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court held that neither the states nor seven individuals who were co-plaintiffs in […]
SC Legislature reaches compromise tweaking how it selects judges
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Legislature reached a final-hour compromise on changes to how it picks judges in the state, giving the governor some input but still holding tight to legislative control. The unanimous votes Wednesday in the House and Senate followed several hours of side-room negotiations while most legislators were in chambers passing a […]
SC passes $14.5 billion budget that cuts taxes, improves roads, freezes college tuition
COLUMBIA — Legislators passed a $14.5 billion state spending package that cuts income taxes, increases state employees’ salaries and freezes tuition at public colleges in South Carolina for the sixth consecutive year. Both the House and Senate easily approved the budget compromise Wednesday, sending it to Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk. The spending package also pumps […]
U.S. Supreme Court upholds law that prevents domestic abusers from owning guns
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Friday upheld a federal law that bars people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from owning a firearm. In an 8-1 decision on United States v. Rahimi, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion that “our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm […]
Footage of Oct. 7 attack screened to emphasize severity to state leaders, support Israel
A group of Utah lawmakers, Jewish leaders and a South Carolina judge viewed 47 minutes of unedited video of the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel in a closed screening at the state Capitol on Tuesday meant to reinforce for them the brutality and reality of what the victims experienced that day. The […]
Hundreds of girls in SC are trafficking victims. A Columbia nonprofit offers help for survivors.
COLUMBIA — It started a decade ago, with the story of a young girl in Richland County. She was smart and well-behaved from a stable home, police believed. But then she went to a party. Things went wrong. Some people took embarrassing photos and used them to blackmail her, threatening to pass them around at […]
For Father’s Day, SC inmates record bedtime stories for their children
COLUMBIA — Huddled over a table in a quiet room, a father reads a bedtime story to his child about using his talents to change the world. The child won’t hear the story right away. The man is an inmate with the South Carolina Department of Corrections at Manning Reentry/Work Release Center in Columbia. Ahead […]
Easing federal marijuana rules: There’s still a long way to go
Nearly three weeks after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration proposed loosening a federal prohibition on marijuana, the next phases of policy fights over the drug’s status are starting to take shape. Public comments, which the DEA is accepting on the proposal until mid-July, will likely include an analysis of the economic impact of more lenient […]
DJJ’s school district aims to give SC youth offenders more opportunities, officials say
COLUMBIA — Usually when Yolanda Simmons gets a call from her son TJ Simmons’ school, it’s bad news. So, when she got a call from the superintendent of the state Department of Juvenile Justice school district TJ was attending, her first thought was, “Oh my God, what did he do?” she told a crowd of […]
Legislators elect 3rd female SC Supreme Court justice in state history
COLUMBIA — Legislators unanimously elected Court of Appeals Judge Letitia Verdin to the South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday. The addition of Verdin, 53, of Greenville County, means the Palmetto State will no longer be the nation’s only all-male high court. She becomes the third female justice in state history — following former Chief Justice […]
SC law could soon exempt sex trafficking victims from prosecution on minor offenses
COLUMBIA — Victims of sex trafficking could not be charged for the nonviolent crimes they’re forced into doing to survive under legislation nearing final approval in the South Carolina Legislature. The bill with bipartisan sponsors would also mandate the offering of counseling and other state services to trafficked minors rescued from their nightmarish situation. “Basically, […]