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☆ South Carolina restarts executions after 13 years
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

His last chance to avoid death was for Republican South Carolina Gov. South Carolina first tried to add the firing squad to restart executions after its supply of lethal injection drugs expired and no company was willing to publicly sell them more. South Carolina law allows condemned people to choose lethal injection, the new firing squad or the electric chair built in 1912. South Carolina restarts the death penaltySouth Carolina’s last execution was in May 2011. South Carolina has put 43 people to death since the death penalty was restarted in the U.S. in 1976.

Persons: Freddie Owens, couldn’t, Owens, Hillary Taylor, Freddie Eugene Owens, Chris Carlson, gurney, ”, Owens ’, Henry McMaster, thoughtfully, ” Owens, Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, Irene Graves, Graves ’, Christopher Lee, Lee, Graves, Steven Golden, Prosecutors, “ Mr, Owens’s, Gerald “ Bo ” King Organizations: COLUMBIA, U.S, Supreme, Republican South Carolina Gov, McMaster, Correctional Institution, South Carolina, Prosecutors Locations: —, Carolina, Greenville, Columbia, Carolina’s, Broad, . South Carolina, U.S

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stop the execution of Freddie Owens who is set to die by lethal injection next week in the state’s first execution in 13 years. South Carolina Department of CorrectionsThe decision keeps on track the planned execution of Owens on Sept. 20 at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia. The state didn’t set out to pause executions, but its supply of lethal injection drugs expired and companies refused to sell the state more if the transaction was made public. Henry McMaster alone has the power to reduce Owens’ sentence to life in prison. Not even the state of South Carolina.

Persons: Freddie Owens, Owens, Freddie Eugene Owens, Irene Graves, Steven Golden, Graves, couldn’t, Golden, “, ”, Henry McMaster, McMaster, hasn’t, ” McMaster, Hillary Taylor, ” Taylor, David Kennedy Organizations: COLUMBIA, South Carolina Supreme, Freddie Eugene Owens . South Carolina Department of Corrections, Correctional Institution, Prosecutors, South, NAACP Locations: Freddie Eugene Owens ., Columbia, Greenville, South Carolina, U.S, Laurens County

☆ Chess games and a new job: How Alex Murdaugh is spending life behind bars
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Pilar Melendez | Pilar Melendez Is An Editor On The Nbc News Platforms Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Disgraced former South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh scored a big legal win last week after the South Carolina Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal for a new murder trial. Murdaugh’s lawyer, however, is not worried and is focused on their appellant cases. Last week, the state Supreme Court agreed to hear Murdaugh’s state appeal for a new murder trial based on allegations that a court clerk tampered with the jury that convicted him. Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal’s decision came after an evidentiary hearing into whether Hill’s comments during the trial influenced the jury. “We are really looking forward to making our case to the Supreme Court,” Griffin said.

Persons: Alex Murdaugh, Murdaugh, Jim Griffin, “ Alex, ”, ” Griffin, Maggie, Paul, Aimee Zmroczek, Curtis Eddie Smith, Zmroczek, ” Zmroczek, Chrysti Shain, “, Murdaugh’s, ” Shain, Eric Bland, doesn’t condon, ” Bland, Colleton, Becky Hill, Jean Toal’s, Toal, Hill Organizations: South, South Carolina Supreme, NBC, Murdaugh’s, NBC News, South Carolina Department of Corrections, Department of Corrections, “ Locations: South Carolina, Murdaugh’s “, Colleton County

The South Carolina Supreme Court reversed course last summer when it upheld the ban after striking down a similar version. An earlier lawsuit by Planned Parenthood argued that the law violated patients' right to privacy. Susanna Birdsong, a lawyer for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, responded that abortion providers have had to make that more conservative interpretation because of the “onerous penalties” for noncompliance. Planned Parenthood has stopped providing abortions when “early embryonic electrical activity” is visible by ultrasound, the group wrote in Monday's filing. “We’re righting for every inch of ground in South Carolina," Birdsong said.

Persons: Taylor Shelton, Katherine Farris, Ultrasounds, Shelton, dismissively, —, — Shelton, “, ” Shelton, John Kittredge, Shane Massey, ” Massey, Susanna Birdsong, Birdsong, Pollard Organizations: COLUMBIA, Republican, South Carolina, South, South Carolina General Assembly, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: South Carolina, Charleston, North Carolina, Wilmington

☆ A hearing to see if Alex Murdaugh gets a new murder trial begins today
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Dakin Andone | Dianne Gallagher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The South Carolina Attorney General’s office, which led the prosecution against Murdaugh, has urged the courts to deny the motion. The evidentiary hearing Monday is expected to include the testimony of 11 jurors from the original murder trial and Hill. Murdaugh’s attorneys had indicated they also wanted to call alternate and dismissed jurors, as well as prosecutors and Judge Clifton Newman, who presided over the murder trial, as witnesses. Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill listens as prosecutor Creighton Waters makes closing arguments in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on March 1, 2023, in Walterboro, South Carolina. Alex Murdaugh's defense attorneys Dick Harpootlian, left, and Jim Griffin before a hearing on January 16 at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia.

Persons: Alex Murdaugh, Murdaugh, Colleton, Rebecca “ Becky ” Hill, Hill, “, ” Hill, Dick Harpootlian, Clifton Newman, Jean Toal –, Newman, –, Rebecca Hill, Creighton Waters, Alex Murdaugh's, Maggie, Paul, Alan Wilson, Ms, ”, ‘, ” Hill’s, Neil R, Gordon, Justin Bamberg, Will Lewis, Jim Griffin, Gavin McIntyre, ” Murdaugh’s, Judge Toal, ” CNN’s Devon Sayers Organizations: CNN, South Carolina Attorney, South Carolina Supreme, The State, TNS, Getty, Prosecutors, South Carolina, Judicial Center, Courier, South, South Carolina Law Locations: Colleton County, South Carolina, Colleton, Walterboro , South Carolina, The, Columbia , South Carolina, Richland, Columbia

☆ ‘Attracted by the siren call of celebrity’: What an Alex Murdaugh judge said about the clerk accused of jury tampering
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Zoe Sottile | Dianne Gallagher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill was “attracted by the siren call of celebrity,” Toal said in her announcement of the ruling. “She wanted to write a book about the trial and expressed that as early as November 2022, long before the trial began,” the judge said. “Did clerk of court Hill’s comments have any impact on the verdict of the jury? The jury tampering case centered on statements allegedly made by Hill to jurors about Murdaugh’s guilt. The affidavit also said prior to Murdaugh testifying, Hill told the jurors “not to be fooled” by evidence offered by the defense.

Persons: Jean Toal, Alex Murdaugh’s, Rebecca Hill, ” Toal, “, ”, Toal, Hill, ” Murdaugh, ” Hill “, Alex Murdaugh, Andrew J, Whitaker, Z, Murdaugh, Justin Bamberg, Will Lewis, Toal’s, ” Murdaugh’s Organizations: CNN, South Carolina, South, Judicial, South Carolina Law Locations: Colleton County, South Carolina, Richland, Columbia , South Carolina, Colleton

Toal took over the request for a new trial after the judge overseeing the case, Clifton Newman, recused himself late last year. Hill has sworn that she did not ask jurors about Murdaugh’s guilt and never suggested that he committed the murders. State police are investigating the jury tampering and misuse of office allegations against Hill but have not charged her with any crimes. He said Hill told an assistant during the trial that a guilty verdict would be good for her book sales. Toal also expressed openness to other ways of ensuring the jurors' privacy, such as obscuring their faces during testimony.

Persons: Alex Murdaugh, Becky Hill, Jean Toal, Toal, Hill, Clifton Newman, “, Jan, Newman, Murdaugh, Maggie, Paul, Jim Griffin, Griffin, ” Toal, Creighton Waters, Waters, Dick Harpootlian, Joe McCulloch, ”, ___ Pollard Organizations: South Carolina Supreme, Defense, Court, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Colleton

Protesters react as they gather inside the South Carolina House as members debate a new near-total ban on abortion with no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest at the state legislature in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. August 30, 2022. The South Carolina Supreme Court on a 4-1 vote rejected a request by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to reconsider its Aug. 23 ruling, which they said left unanswered what constitutes a "fetal heartbeat" under the Republican-backed law. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, a Republican, in a statement welcomed the decision. The U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide, prompting Republican-led states including South Carolina to ban or severely curtail the ability of women to obtain abortions. The new law came after the state Supreme Court in January struck down a similar abortion law, by a 3-2 vote.

Persons: Sam Wolfe, Alan Wilson, Roe, Wade, Kaye Hearn, Nate Raymond, Lincoln Organizations: Carolina House, REUTERS, South Carolina Supreme, Republican, Greenville Women's Clinic, Carolina, U.S, Supreme, Thomson Locations: Columbia , South Carolina, U.S, Greenville, South Carolina, Boston

☆ South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Six-Week Abortion Ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Laura Kusisto | Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones Locations: carolina

South Carolina Republican state senator Katrina Frye Shealy debates a six-week abortion ban at the state legislature in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. May 23, 2023. REUTERS/Sam Wolfe/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 23 (Reuters) - South Carolina's highest court on Wednesday upheld a new state law banning abortion after fetal heart activity is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy, months after it blocked a similar ban. "With this victory, we protect the lives of countless unborn children and reaffirm South Carolina's place as one of the most pro-life states in America," South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a Republican, said in a statement. The new law came after the state Supreme Court in January struck down a previous abortion law, by a 3-2 vote. South Carolina's Republican legislature in February replaced Hearn, who was the sole woman on the five-member court, with Justice Garrison Hill, who voted to uphold the new law on Wednesday.

Persons: Katrina Frye, Sam Wolfe, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Justice Kaye Hearn, Hearn, Justice Garrison Hill, John Few, Donald Beatty, Brendan Pierson, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: South, South Carolina Republican, REUTERS, South Carolina Supreme, South Carolina Governor, Republican, Democrat, South Carolina's Republican, Justice, Thomson Locations: South Carolina, Columbia , South Carolina, U.S, America, South Carolina's, New York

☆ South Carolina Supreme Court upholds 6-week abortion ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Carma Hassan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a temporary block on the state’s abortion restrictions, with four justices agreeing and one dissenting in three separate opinions. Henry McMaster signed the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act in May, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and several other medical providers filed a lawsuit in state court to try to stop it. The state filed an emergency petition asking the South Carolina Supreme Court, which is comprised of five men, to act quickly on the case. “Moreover, the implication is that women are solely responsible for a couple’s unexpected pregnancy, possibly due to the lack of birth control. But what about situations where birth control fails?

Persons: Henry McMaster, McMaster, John Kittredge, “, John Few, ” “, ”, Donald Beatty, ” Beatty, ” CNN’s Dianne Gallagher Organizations: CNN, South Carolina Supreme, Abortion, Republican Gov, State Board of Medical Locations: America, South Carolina

☆ South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Abortion Law, Reversing Earlier Decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Kate Zernike | More About Kate Zernike | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the state’s new near-total ban on abortion by a 4-1 vote, reversing a decision it had made in January that struck down a similar ban and declared that the State Constitution’s protections for privacy included a right to abortion. The court’s decision was not unexpected, because the makeup of the bench had changed, and Republicans in the State Legislature had passed a new abortion law in the hopes that it would find a friendlier audience with the new court. The decision in January was written by the court’s only female justice; she retired and South Carolina now has the nation’s only all-male high court. The decision repeated what the justices said in January about a right to privacy in the State Constitution, but said the Legislature had addressed the concerns in the first law and “balanced” the interests of pregnant women with those of the fetus. “To be sure, the 2023 Act infringes on a woman’s right of privacy and bodily autonomy,” Justice John Kittredge wrote for the majority.

Persons: John Kittredge Organizations: South Carolina Supreme, Legislature, South Locations: South Carolina, State

[1/2] Protesters gather inside the South Carolina House as members debate a new near-total ban on abortion with no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest at the state legislature in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Sam Wolfe/FILE PHOTOJune 27 (Reuters) - South Carolina's highest court on Tuesday appeared open to upholding a new state law banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, months after it blocked a similar ban. That court ruled 3-2 in January that an earlier abortion law violated the right to privacy guaranteed by the state constitution. Both the earlier law and the newer law sought to ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Abortions are currently allowed in South Carolina through the first 22 weeks of pregnancy, one of the most permissive abortion laws in the region.

Persons: Sam Wolfe, Justice Kaye Hearn, Hearn, Justice Garrison Hill, Catherine Humphreville, William Lambert, John Few, John Kittredge, Catherine, Brendan Pierson, Alexia Garamfalvi, Alistair Bell Organizations: Carolina House, REUTERS, Planned, South Carolina Supreme, South, South Carolina's Republican, Justice, Democrat, Thomson Locations: Columbia , South Carolina, U.S, South Carolina's, South Carolina, New York

The Republican-led state is currently enforcing a near-total abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother. MONTANA: Governor Greg Gianforte in May signed into law several bills limiting abortion access, including one that aims to overturn a 1999 state Supreme Court ruling that found the state constitution protected a right to abortion. TEXAS: While abortion is completely banned with very limited exceptions in Texas, Republican state representatives have introduced legislation that would compel internet providers to block websites that supply abortion pills or provide information on how to obtain an abortion. UTAH: Republican Governor Spencer Cox in March signed legislation to prohibit the licensing of abortion clinics, which abortion rights advocates say would effectively eliminate access in the state. In April, he also signed into law a bill to shield abortion providers and patients from other states' legal attacks.

Persons: Sam Wolfe, Roe, Wade, Ron DeSantis, Brad Little, Greg Gianforte, Jim Pillen, Roy Cooper's, Doug Burgum, Henry McMaster, Spencer Cox, Mark Gordon, Gretchen Whitmer, J.B, Pritzker, Tim Walz, Gabriella Borter, Sharon Bernstein, Julia Harte, Colleen Jenkins, Alistair Bell Organizations: Carolina House, REUTERS, U.S, Supreme, Republican, NORTH, Democratic, SOUTH, South Carolina Supreme Court, Senate, Minnesota, Thomson Locations: Columbia , South Carolina, U.S, FLORIDA, . IDAHO, MONTANA, . NEBRASKA, NORTH CAROLINA, North Carolina, NORTH DAKOTA, North Dakota, SOUTH CAROLINA, Carolina, TEXAS, Texas, UTAH, Utah . WYOMING, CALIFORNIA, MICHIGAN, ILLINOIS, MINNESOTA, OHIO, Washington, Sacramento , California, New York

☆ South Carolina advances 6-week abortion ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The measure, which passed mostly along party lines with a vote of 82 to 33, is a heavily amended version of a ban that the state Senate passed in February. It failed then because House Republicans wanted to instead push through a near-total abortion ban, which five women in the state Senate banded together to block. A similar six-week ban passed last year was ruled unconstitutional by the South Carolina Supreme Court in January. South Carolina is one of several U.S. states where Republican lawmakers are considering aggressive abortion restrictions this week over strong Democratic opposition. Some of the state senators who supported it originally have expressed opposition to the House version, leaving its fate uncertain.

☆ A Secretive Early Release From Prison, Then a Frantic Manhunt
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Rick Rojas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jeriod Price had served more than half of a 35-year prison sentence for murdering another man at a nightclub in 2002. The authorities in South Carolina warned the public that he was dangerous and “could be anywhere in the world,” pleading for information that could aid their sudden, frantic search. A prominent judge, just a day before his own retirement, had signed and then sealed an order clearing the way for Mr. Price’s release from prison in March, even though he still had some 16 years remaining on his sentence. A month later, the South Carolina Supreme Court overruled the judge’s order. Mr. Price failed to surrender, setting off a manhunt with officers from law enforcement agencies combing the state and beyond.

☆ South Carolina House Passes Six-Week Abortion Ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Kate Zernike | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

His approval, if granted, would dramatically reduce abortion access for women in the state and across the region. Most Southern states have passed abortion bans since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last June. But because the South Carolina legislature has not been able to agree on the terms of a ban, the state still allows abortion up until 22 weeks of pregnancy. BackgroundThe bill will test a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling in January, which found a right to abortion in the state Constitution and struck down a previous six-week ban. Henry McMaster, a Republican who supports a six-week ban, called the Senate into its own special session next week to debate the House version of the bill.

Kaye Hearn, a justice on South Carolina’s Supreme Court, wrote the majority opinion this month that struck down the state’s six-week abortion ban. Two women, Court of Appeals Judges Stephanie McDonald and Aphrodite Konduros, were initially in the running for Hearn’s seat but withdrew Tuesday. (The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court for criminal cases, also has an all-male bench; the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which hears civil cases, has both female and male justices.) In 1988, Toal was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Hearn, who was elected to the state’s Court of Appeals in 1995, joined her on the bench in 2010.

☆ South Carolina Supreme Court strikes down state abortion ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a ban on abortion after six weeks, ruling the restriction enacted by the Deep South state violates a state constitutional right to privacy. With federal abortion protections gone, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic sued in July under the South Carolina constitution’s right to privacy. Currently, South Carolina bars most abortions at about 20 weeks beyond fertilization, or the gestational age of 22 weeks. In South Carolina, lawyers representing the state Legislature have argued the right to privacy should be interpreted narrowly. South Carolina Democratic House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford said any continuation of Republicans’ “war on women” is a deliberate waste of taxpayer dollars.

☆ South Carolina’s 6-Week Abortion Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Jennifer Calfas | Laura Kusisto | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The South Carolina court said laws limiting abortion access must allow enough time for women to determine whether they are pregnant and get an abortion. The South Carolina Supreme Court permanently blocked enforcement of the state’s ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, ruling the 2021 law violated the right to privacy in the state constitution. In a 3-2 decision Thursday, the court ruled state constitutional protections for a person’s privacy included decisions about whether to get an abortion. The decision marks the first major victory for abortion-rights groups in a state high court since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal constitutional protections for the procedure.

☆ South Carolina Supreme Court overturns state abortion ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court is based on the state's own constitution, which, unlike the U.S. Constitution, explicitly gives citizens a right to privacy. President Joe Biden's press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, in a tweet wrote: "We are encouraged by South Carolina's Supreme Court ruling today on the state's extreme and dangerous abortion ban." The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the state's ban on abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy, ruling that the law violated the state's constitutional right to privacy. South Carolina's abortion ban was again blocked in August, this time by the state Supreme Court, after a new lawsuit was filed seeking to invalidate it. The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court invalidating the federal right to abortion effectively left it up to individual states to regulate pregnancy terminations.

☆ Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows forced to testify before Georgia grand jury about Trump's effort to overturn 2020 election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Meadows must testify before a Georgia grand jury investigating 2020 election meddling. In a ruling Tuesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court rejected Meadows' argument he is shielded by "executive privilege." Meadows served as Trump's chief of staff and participated in the campaign to overturn the election. Give me a break," Trump said, according to a recording of the call (Biden's ultimately won the state by 11,780 votes). Meadows, who at the time was sharing conspiracy theories about the 2020 vote with election officials, also texted Raffensperger, who ignored the message, according to CNN.

☆ South Carolina Supreme Court agrees to hear appeal by former Trump White House aide Mark Meadows to block grand jury subpoena
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks to reporters in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, July 29, 2020. South Carolina's Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal by former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to block a Georgia grand jury subpoena demanding his testimony in a probe of possible criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election. The Supreme Court's action came days after Meadows' lawyer asked it to take the case, and almost a month after a South Carolina judge ordered Meadows to comply with the subpoena from the Fulton County grand jury. But that might not happen given the South Carolina Supreme Court's action. Georgia authorities had to ask a South Carolina judge to compel Meadows' compliance with the subpoena because he lives in South Carolina and not Georgia.

Hours later, his firm — Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrickhe — releases its own statement alleging Murdaugh had misappropriated company funds. Jan. 21, 2022A grand jury indicts Murdaugh on 23 new charges, including breach of trust with fraudulent intent and computer crimes. Jan. 24, 2022A legal claim is filed against the estates of Margaret and Paul Murdaugh by the mother of Mallory Beach, 19, who was killed in a boat crash in 2019. May 4, 2022Prosecutors announce that Murdaugh is facing four new charges related to financial crimes also involving Fleming and others. July 14, 2022A grand jury announces an indictment against Murdaugh on double murder charges in the deaths of Margaret and Paul.

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