Pass hate crime law, SC Chamber of Commerce, more than 80 businesses tell lawmakers
South Carolina’s Chamber of Commerce and more than 80 business leaders from across the country called on the state’s governor and lawmakers Tuesday to pass hate crime legislation.
As one of the three remaining states without hate crime legislation, South Carolina “should not be the last state in the nation to depend on federal laws to prosecute the crimes that occurred” during the mass shooting at Charleston’s Mother Emanuel AME Church in 2015, the Chamber of Commerce’s statement read. On June 17, five years ago, nine Black parishioners, including state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, were shot and killed by white supremacist Dylann Roof, who is now on death row.
South Carolina is one of three states yet to pass any type of hate crime legislation, which could add an enhanced penalty to crimes committed on the basis of hate. The state can still prosecute someone for a crime, but only the federal government could choose to pursue hate crime charges for a crime committed in the Palmetto State.
“The time has come to pass a hate crimes bill this coming session,” Chamber President and CEO Ted Pitts said in a statement. “The state’s business community looks forward to working with the House, the Senate, and the Governor to quickly pass a meaningful bill that shows South Carolina does not condone crimes motivated by hate.”
Pitts was joined by several prominent businesses, like AARP, AT&T, American Airlines, the Bank of America, CVS Health, IBM, Michelin, Sonoco, Toyota, Coca Cola, UPS, Verizon, Volvo and Wells Fargo. He was also joined by local organizations like Benedict College, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Colonial Life, Nephron Pharmaceuticals, Nexsen Pruet and several local chambers of commerce.
The group called on legislators to pass hate crime legislation in January, when the Legislature returns for session. The Chamber has also included the passage of hate crime legislation on its legislative agenda for 2021.
“It is clear now more than ever, that to encourage prospective companies to locate here, workers to live here, tourists to visit here and families to thrive here, we must also be in the business of advancing policies that support positive change in our communities,” read the letter sent from the chamber to S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and state lawmakers. “By passing a hate crimes bill, we will let the world know that South Carolina is not a state that condones crimes motivated by hate.”
The Chamber’s endorsement came on the heels of a tumultuous year, where protesters took to the streets in cities across America, including Columbia, to call for social justice and equity following the death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck.
That movement drew the attention of business and chamber leaders, Pitts said in an interview with The State. After Georgia passed their own hate crime law over the summer, several companies reached out to the S.C. Chamber and pushed for support for legislation in the Palmetto State, Pitts added.
“Our membership broadly has supported this issue,” he said. “This is an issue that really we can all get behind.”
Some state lawmakers — including Sens. Mia McLeod and Darrell Jackson, and Reps. Beth Bernstein, Wendy Brawley, Todd Rutherford and Ivory Thigpen, all Richland Democrats — sponsored hate crime bills last year in hopes of getting them passed. In both the House and the Senate, bills didn’t make it past their respective Judiciary committees.
Republican lawmakers, who will hold even more control over the legislature next year, have been resistant to passing hate crime legislation in the past. Many, including the governor, have said existing state laws allow for prosecution of the actual crime and that lawmakers shouldn’t add any new enhancements to the books since there is already a federal hate crime law. Others have said all people should be protected equally under the law, and hate crime enhancements only apply to certain kinds of victims.
Though hate crime legislation didn’t find enough support to pass last year, House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, created in July a new House committee focused on law enforcement training, tactics standards and accountability, civil asset forfeiture, the criminal process and procedure, and sentencing reform.
That committee has served as a place where lawmakers could lay the groundwork for a renewed push for hate crime legislation. And Bernstein plans to file a bill born of those talks for consideration in the upcoming session.
The proposed bill will provide an enhanced penalty for someone who commits a crime against someone based on their actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation or disability. For a violent crime, an offender could face an additional five years sentence and a fine of up to $10,000 more. For stalking or harassment, the penalty could increase by up to three years and $5,000, and for malicious injury offenses, it could increase by up to one year and $1,000.
It would also allow a victim of a hate crime to file a civil law suit against the perpetrator. In that case, a court could order a perpetrator to pay a fine of up to $25,000 for each violation.
Bernstein believes that the support from the Chamber and several prominent businesses will lend more momentum to the push for hate crime legislation. During meetings of the House Equitable Justice System and Law Enforcement Reform Committee — which is filled with equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans — testimony from business groups, public defenders and prosecutors was supportive, Bernstein said.
“I think the most recent Chamber endorsement and backing only shows where things have shifted in the business community,” Bernstein said.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 12:24 PM.
