‘This is a dire situation’: SC lawmakers push for hate crime bills as end of session nears

FILE – South Carolina state house (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)

(WCIV) — The end of the SC’s legislative session is days away, and lawmakers have yet to pass a hate crime law, keeping the state’s ranking as one of only two states without such a law in place.

State lawmakers have been trying to change that for the last decade and are closer than ever as bills sit in the house and senate.

The hate crime bill that’s currently in the house, is still in subcommittee, and lawmakers are doing whatever they can to get in on the floor, because as Representative Wendell Gilliard (D, Charleston County) who prefilled the bill this session puts it, if it’s going to move, it has to be this week.

“This is a dire situation,” he said. “We’re now in the 12th hour before we end the session for the year, come May 8. So, whatever we do, we have to do with expediency,” he said.

House bill 3039, or the Senator Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act, is named after one of the victims killed in the Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting in 2015.

This is not the first time the bill has appeared in the house, in fact, it has passed in the house twice before, but never made it through senate.

“If the bill passes this year, historically would be the third time, that we’ve gotten it passed through the house,” said Gilliard.

Gilliard says a bill like this is owed to the families of the Emanuel 9.

“We’re staying optimistic, steadfast, because we feel nine lives is definitely worth the effort. Even if it was just one life under that tragedy, it’s always worth the effort.”

Gilliard added that as a state, a message needs to be sent that South Carolina wants to be on the side of justice and righteousness.

“We should have had a hate crime bill. We should have been the first out of the gate by virtue of our history in South Carolina. When you think about it, Civil War and everything else, we should have been the first state that had a hate crime law,” he said.

When asked why lawmakers would be against this bill, Gilliard said there were a lot of concerns initially brought up when he introduced the bill years ago.

The ones that stood out, he says, involved the language surrounding sexual orientation as referenced in the bill.

“The only thing that ever stuck out, we came down to that there was two senators, they could not agree with it because of that language that stated, if sexual orientation was still in there, that they would not entertain it,” he said. “Now, if we had taken that out to me, the question of inclusiveness, would’ve presented itself.”

After a decade of advocating for this bill, Gilliard says there are two things he will not compromise on, the naming of the bill after the late Senator Clementa C. Pinckney, and it being referenced as a hate crime bill.

“Why should we, as a people always settle for less? You see, we should never allow that.”

Gilliard is confident that the hate crime bill will make it to the house floor this week. There are two bills currently in the senate, one is still in the committee process, and the other is on the senate floor.

Senate bill 99 calls for an enhancement of penalties if someone intentionally targets someone based on characteristics like race, sex, or national origin, etc.

State Senator Deon Tedder, who represents Charleston and Dorchester counties, and is a sponsor of this bill, says in committee hearings, those against it argue it’s not necessary and would send a message that some people are more important than others.

“I don’t buy that argument that the hate crime bills places certain people above others because if that were the case, those same senators would not be pushing other bills that do the same thing for people based on titles,” he said. “For example, there’s a bill that will carve out, additional penalties if someone in the hospital attacks a nurse or physician’s, physician’s assistant, but it doesn’t extend to the custodian or the secretary or the cook at the hospital.”

Recently, two senators have placed their name as an objection to this bill, placing the bill on the contested calendar.

“I know at least when I was serving in the house, we passed it several times and the Senate failed to act on it,” said Tedder. “At least this year, we’re able to at least move it through the committee process. And so that’s somewhat hopeful. But again, the way the senate rules work, it takes one senator to object to a bill and then you have to go through a different process to have it heard.”

Tedder says sponsors of the bill are just hoping to have a fair debate and address any issues on the senate floor.

The other bill in the senate, bill 247, which tedder is also a sponsor for, is still awaiting a committee hearing he says.

Tedder added that typically when there are two similar bills, one would move forward and says senate bill 99 is the bill that is moving through at this time.

With the end of session just days away. Tedder says the calendar is tight right now and if the bill isn’t heard this year, then everything will stay as is, and will start back up come next January.

Tedder says despite the challenges, he is remaining hopeful for the rest of the session.