James Pollard/Associated Press/Report for America
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Criminal defendants with repeat violent charges will have a harder time getting out of jail as they await trial and could spend more time in prison if they are convicted of the crime while out on bond under a proposal heading to the South Carolina governor's desk. Both state legislative chambers on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would require the payment of a full cash bond to post bail for people charged with a second violent or firearm-involved offense while out on pretrial release for a first offense. A conviction on the subsequent charge will allow another penalty carrying up to five years imprisonment even if they are found not guilty of the initial crime.
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A federal judge has ruled that South Carolina legislative special interest caucuses can formally campaign. It's a victory for a hardline conservative group of state representatives that want to push the Republican-controlled Legislature further to the right. The Tuesday order allows the South Carolina Freedom Caucus to fundraise and distribute election materials. The fledgling ultraconservative group of lawmakers had argued that a state ethics law limiting those abilities only to caucuses organized by political party, race, ethnicity or gender violated its freedom of speech.
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South Carolina legislative special interest caucuses can formally campaign, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a victory for a hardline conservative group of state representatives that want to push the Republican-controlled Legislature further to the right.
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ommunity members are grieving the death of a 14-year-old boy who authorities say was fatally shot in the back by a South Carolina gas station owner. A Friday evening prayer vigil across the street from the Xpress Mart Shell station in Columbia featured calls to channel righteous anger into community support and political action. The station owner Rick Chow is accused of killing Cyrus Carmack-Belton on Sunday night after chasing down the teenager, who he wrongly suspected of stealing four water bottles. The shooting leaves many in the community also crying out against racial profiling.
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A wave of newly approved abortion restrictions in the Southeastern United States has sent providers scrambling to reconfigure their services for a region with already severely limited access. South Carolina's governor signed a bill Thursday banning most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy, setting up an anticipated legal challenge from providers. The law Thursday goes into effect immediately. Pending bans at varying stages of pregnancy in North Carolina and Florida are threatening to further delay abortions for patients as appointments pile up and doctors work to understand the new limitations. The states had been holdouts providing wider access to the procedure in the region.
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The South Carolina Senate has approved a bill that would ban most abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy, sending the bill to the governor who has promised to sign it. The proposal passed on Tuesday restores the ban South Carolina had in place when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. That ban was overturned by the state’s highest court because it violated the state Constitution’s right to privacy.
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South Carolina is close to joining its Southern neighbors in further curtailing abortion access. The Republican-led state Senate on Tuesday is expected to consider a bill banning most abortions after an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, generally around six weeks and before most patients know they are pregnant. The proposal cleared the state House last week following nearly 24 hours of proceedings split across two days over hundreds of Democrats' amendments. But additional regulations inserted by the House are provoking Republican ire that could prolong the debate. Those changes include requiring child support beginning at conception and limiting minors' ability to petition the court for an abortion.
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Abortions would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy under a bill debated early into Wednesday morning by the South Carolina House in a development that follows months of Republicans in the chamber insisting instead on a near-total ban that the state Senate recently rejected.
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The Republican-controlled South Carolina House is expected to debate a bill that would ban abortion as soon as cardiac activity is detected. The debate on Tuesday comes after the state Senate rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw the procedure as soon as conception. The chambers' disagreement over restrictions epitomizes fault lines that have developed between Republicans nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The measure in the House would ban abortion when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, around six weeks and before most people know they are pregnant. Opponents say a ban around six weeks is essentially an "outright abortion ban."
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South Carolina has a new top accountant after a 20-year officeholder resigned amid pressure over a $3.5 billion reporting error. Brian Gaines is now the state comptroller general and will oversee an office that has received mounting scrutiny from lawmakers who want to dismantle its responsibilities. The shakeup comes after former Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom revealed the state's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report had exaggerated cash balances by double counting the money sent to colleges and universities.