Case Explained: Local hate crime laws part of a push for state action – Legal Perspective

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) – Cities and counties across the state are considering local hate crime laws as South Carolina remains one of only two states without a statewide law to punish hate-motivated crimes.

During the last week of August, Charleston County and Isle of Palms considered local ordinances. Charleston County’s proposal failed by one vote, and Isle of Palms passed a local law.

“From my seat, I just don’t think there’s a downside personally to pass something like this, and if it’s a proven issue of hate somewhere down the road, now there’s a little more teeth that our public safety folks can employ,” Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds says.

The Isle of Palms city-wide law now says any proven hateful crimes are a misdemeanor, facing a fine of up to $500 and 30 days in jail. Charleston, Summerville, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston and Folly Beach all have similar local laws.

State Rep. Wendell Gilliard has pre-filed a state-wide hate crime law at the statehouse for nearly a decade, but it has yet to pass both chambers.

“You know, we now know it has passed the house twice, so we get it back in the house next year, it would be the third time, and get it to the senate, where it needs to get passed. A few senators want to hold it up, and that’s only a few, but we can change their mind,” Gilliard says.

Gilliard says seeing the swell of local support is a strategic move he hopes puts pressure on those senators to join the movement.

“We knew we were going to adjourn, so we wanted to keep the momentum up. So we wanted to get to the counties and the local municipalities to go ahead and pass resolutions, but more importantly, get with the counties to pass the ordinances. And so far, it’s working,” Gilliard says.

Charleston County failed to pass a hate crime ordinance by one vote after rigorous debate about the ambiguity of the proposed wording and how effective a county-level ordinance would even be.

“We were sad about Charleston County having to vote on it just recently, but it failed by one vote. But even that’s encouraging, because other counties, other local municipalities, are watching and they’re listening, and so it didn’t surprise me here, just the other day, the city of Isle of Palms came forward and voted on this ordinance,” Gilliard says.

Pounds does say he believes the issue at the state level and it should be passed there and written by the lawmakers, but the town took steps to show their stance in the meantime.

“A couple years ago, we passed a resolution to encourage our state to pass a hate crime legislation because this is a state-level issue and should be. That kind of fell on deaf ears…it just can’t get across the finish line at the state level. So you know we had talked to our lobbyists and talked to our state representatives to encourage them to pass that, it hasn’t happened, so we just felt like it was time for us to kind of take action to be honest,” Pounds says.

Gilliard is hopeful that this show of consideration and often support from local governments will light a fire at the statehouse and push a hate crime bill through next session. He says there are clear benefits to joining the 48 other states that have hate crime laws.

“Time is of essence. We can’t be waiting on the federal government. We have to have our own in house law so we can act, and then it would give us a chance now to expedite the cases as they happen, which is very important. And also, we would have a mandate to keep records as to where, which counties these hate crimes are happening in, and we can bring in the proper resources that is so essential, so important, that people understand that,” Gilliard says.

“Hopefully, the state will come along when they go back in session in January to get something done at the state level where this should reside, but you know what, until then we have something in place,” Pounds says.

Wyoming is the only other state in the union that does not have a state hate crime law. Gilliard says the movement across the state, where local laws are being passed, is a sign of what the people want, and he hopes those holding out at the state level take note.

“Whether these cities are large or small, really, the message should come from the bottom up. That’s how you keep the momentum going into January, when we reconvene the second week in January. And the message would have been, hey, the people are now talking. They want a hate crime law here in the state of South Carolina. So we’re very encouraged by the movement,” Gilliard says.

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