South Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Where other remedies are available to an inmate claiming prison officials violated his First Amendment rights by retaliating against him for filing grievances, allowing a Bivens remedy could lead to an intolerable level of judicial intrusion into an issue best ...
Read More »Constitutional – Bivens not extended to retaliation claim
Constitutional – Exclusion of LGBTQ essay did not violate free speech 
Where an elementary school principal omitted a fourth grader’s essay on LGBTQ equality from a student booklet because the material was not age-appropriate, she did not violate the First Amendment as her decision was reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns ...
Read More »Constitutional – Councilman’s Suspension – Moral Turpitude – Domestic Violence – Subject Matter Jurisdiction – Separation of Powers
When the plaintiff-city councilman was charged with second-degree domestic violence, S.C. Const. art. VI, § 8 gave the governor the authority to suspend plaintiff until he was acquitted. We affirm the circuit court’s ruling as modified. Under S.C. Const. art. ...
Read More »Constitutional – Wrong standard applied to issue of care for detained immigrant youth
Where unaccompanied immigrant children detained by the government alleged they were not receiving a constitutionally adequate level of mental health counseling, the proper standard was whether the care substantially departed from accepted professional standards. Background Appellants are a class of ...
Read More »Constitutional – Prison must provide deaf inmate with access to video calls
Where the record showed that a deaf inmate could not communicate in writing because of his lack of English proficiency, that point-to-point videophone calls would not have a “ripple effect” on fellow inmates or prison staff, and that the prison ...
Read More »Constitutional – Schools & School Boards – CARES Act – Private School Funding
Since CARES Act funds are received in the state treasury and distributed through it, those funds are “public funds” within the meaning of S.C. Const. art. XI, § 4. Consequently, the governor may not allocate CARES Act funds to support ...
Read More »Constitutional – Importing prior discriminatory intent to new voting law was error
Although North Carolina previously acted with racially discriminatory intent in enacting a 2013 omnibus voting law that included voter-ID requirement, it was error to assume that same intent influenced the passage of the state’s 2018 voter-ID law. Background This case ...
Read More »Constitutional – Short-term aerial surveillance allowed to continue
Where Baltimore’s short-term aerial surveillance program does not target particular individuals or violate a reasonable expectation of privacy, and seeks to meet a serious law enforcement need without burdening constitutional rights, the denial of community activists’ request for a preliminary ...
Read More »Constitutional – N.C. absentee ballot deadline not extended
Where parties challenging the North Carolina State Board of Elections’ decision to extend the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots failed to demonstrate they were likely to succeed on the merits of their Equal Protection or Elections Clause arguments, the ...
Read More »Constitutional – Schools & School Boards – CARES Act – Private School Funding
Since CARES Act funds are received in the state treasury and distributed through it, those funds are “public funds” within the meaning of S.C. Const. art. XI, § 4. Consequently, the governor may not allocate CARES Act funds to support ...
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