Free Republic

Barely six months after South Carolina lawmakers approved legislation allowing K-12 students to customize their education, the state affiliate of the National Education Association is attempting to force children to remain in assigned public schools. The South Carolina Education Association is the latest in a long line of education special-interest groups that oppose parental rights and have sought to limit students’ learning options through litigation. National teachers unions and their state affiliates have filed suits against parental choice in education in Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio, Puerto Rico—the list goes on. Fortunately for children, the unions and other lobbying groups...

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County Coroner’s Office has released the names of the two men who died in a shooting outside of a North Charleston club. Donald Lamont Jackson, 25, of North Charleston, and Antonio Lenard Patterson, 32, also of North Charleston, died from gunshot wounds they received at Club 787. Officers responded to the Dorchester Road club just after 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. Deputies from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office arrived ahead of North Charleston Police and found two men on the ground near the entrance to the club. Neither man was breathing, a report states. Investigators...

A group of Clemson University students protested the removal of tampon dispensers from the men’s library bathrooms in response to a conservative student group’s complaints. Holding brightly colored signs reading “Destigmatize menstruation” and “Hello, it’s the 21st century,” around 50 students demonstrated on campus Wednesday to demand school administrators reinstall the feminine hygiene dispensers. The dispensers were removed after the Clemson College Republicans complained they were found inside the library’s men’s bathrooms. “If you weren’t aware already, Clemson University has tampon/pad dispensers in the MEN’S restrooms located in Cooper Library. We truly live in a [clown] world,” the student group...

The 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump will deliver remarks to supporters at Sportsman Boats in Summerville, SC on Sept. 25th, 2023. Coverage is expected to begin at 11:30 am ET. Please Note: times are estimated and are subject to change.

The wife of Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., has filed for divorce, alleging he had at least one affair during their marriage. In the Friday filing at a courthouse in Laurens County, Melody Duncan, who has three adult children with the congressman, accused her husband of having multiple extramarital affairs and leaving their home to live with another woman. Duncan, who touts himself online as a "strong advocate for life and traditional family values," has been married to Melody since December 1988. The filing, which came around noon on Friday, listed Duncan's paramour as Liz Williams, who is reportedly a lobbyist...

South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled today that the state's ban on abortions after six weeks did not violate the Palmetto State's constitution, voting 4-1 to uphold the ban in the suit brought by Planned Parenthood South Atlantic against the law passed May 23 in a special session called by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster. "The Supreme Court's ruling marks a historic moment in our state's history and is the culmination of years of hard work and determination by so many in our state to ensure that the sanctity of life is protected," said McMaster, who was the state’s lieutenant governor in...

Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court have been debating back-and-forth about recent actions taken by the court's new liberal majority, floating allegations of illegal actions and improperly-noticed meetings. The spat began shortly after new liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz was sworn in on Tuesday, after which the liberal majority on the court quickly moved to fire the administrative director of the court and place organizational power over the Supreme Court in a three-justice committee instead of solely with the chief justice — who is currently a conservative. Chief Justice Annette Ziegler said the meetings conducted by the four liberal justices were...

A federal circuit court will determine if pro-life states like South Carolina, where the court case originally took place, can be forced to spend taxpayer dollars funding abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the case in question after it was remanded by the Supreme Court back to the appellate earlier this month. “Practically speaking, this case will decide if taxpayers in pro-life states are going to be forced to see their taxpayer dollars being spent to fund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood,” Chris Schandevel, Senior Counsel...

🚨Just in: Senator Lindsey Graham was booed nonstop on the stage at the Trump rally in South Carolina. pic.twitter.com/B1exyI1IDi— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) July 1, 2023

Today, America First Legal (AFL) and co-counsel Christopher Mills won our lawsuit to stop establishment politicians from silencing the South Carolina Freedom Caucus. In a forty-page opinion, United States District Court Judge Cameron Currie permanently blocked the enforcement of state statutes that sought to limit the expressive and associational activities of the Freedom Caucus and other “legislative special interest caucuses,” finding them to be “a ban on speech.” The court held that these laws, written to favor the House Democratic Caucus, House Republican Caucus, the Black Caucus, and the Women’s Caucus, violated the Freedom Caucus’s First Amendment and Equal Protection...

Okay, so I want to leave NYC; my friend moved there a year and a half ago, and I went to visit him last summer. The place is gorgeous, and the city proper was beautiful. I was thinking of applying to state government jobs (sue me), as they might be easier to get into versus looking at Indeed, where lots of things want an associate's degree. I want to get out of the security industry and go back into an office, which is where I'm comfortable. I'm not asking for a job or apartment on here, but I'm just looking...

The Uniparty will not bend. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) traveled to Kiev again on Friday. Lindsey promised Ukrainian President Zelensky that no matter what Republicans say on the campaign trail to their base, the Uniparty Republicans in the Senate will continue to feed Ukraine with an endless supply of weapons. The elites really, really hate you. (snip) And it was Lindsey and his cohort John McCain who played a role in the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster unceremoniously signed a measure to repeal the state’s certificate of need regulations for most health care facilities. The measure, S.164, establishes a three-year sunset of the CON requirement for hospitals except in counties that do not have one, where the mandate is repealed immediately. Observers say eight Palmetto State counties do not have a hospital. "South Carolinians will have greater access to affordable health care services with the repeal of the certificate of need laws," McMaster said in a statement. "Everyone benefits when the proven power of the free market is unleashed in our state."...

There will be a gun “turn in event” on Saturday, May 13, 2023, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. These events are commonly labeled with the Orwellian term “buyback”. The guns were never owned by people attempting to obtain them, so they cannot be bought back. This is a propaganda event to make it appear as if guns are illicit items.Guns have enormous utility and are sought-after possessions. The people who turn in guns at these events either do not know the value of their guns, want to make a political statement, or turn in guns that have a value less than...

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a measure to create scholarships for select elementary and secondary students aimed at covering education expenses so they can attend the school of their choice. Under S.39, the Educational Scholarship Trust Fund, eligible students — state residents with "a statement of Medicaid eligibility" — can receive scholarships of up to $6,000. They can use the money to cover instructional materials, tutoring, computer hardware, assessments, transportation, tuition and fees. According to lawmakers, the scholarships will be funded directly from the state budget, and lawmakers said they did not take any money from public school funds...

The South Carolina House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee has signed off on a measure to repeal certificate of need regulations for most healthcare facilities in the state. S.164 would eliminate the CON requirement for most healthcare facilities. In February, the State Senate approved the CON repeal by a 30-6 vote. Last week, the South Carolina House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Subcommittee voted in favor of the mandate repeal. "With today’s committee passage, attention now turns to the full House to repeal our state’s certificate of need laws," Americans for Prosperity-South Carolina State Director Candace Carroll...

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - Police say six people have been taken to a hospital Friday evening after a shooting on the Isle of Palms. Sgt. Matt Storen with the Isle of Palms Police Department confirmed there was a shooting behind Sea Cabins near 1140 Oceans Blvd. Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds says one person is in custody.

On February 22, 2023, the South Carolina House passed a Constitutional Carry bill with 75% of the votes, 90 to 30. Constitutional or “permitless” Carry is when a state does not require a permit to carry loaded handguns, openly or concealed, for most adults in most public places, a close approximation of the state of the law when the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791. From abcnews.com (AP): The Republican-controlled South Carolina House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to allow lawful firearm owners to carry handguns openly or concealed without a state permit.The 90-30 vote brings the conservative state one step closer...

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE "SOUTH CAROLINA CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY/SECOND AMENDMENT PRESERVATION ACT OF 2023" BY AMENDING SECTION 10-11-320, RELATING TO CARRYING OR DISCHARGING FIREARMS AND EXCEPTIONS FOR CONCEALABLE WEAPONS PERMIT HOLDERS, SO AS TO DELETE A PROVISION THAT MAKES THIS SECTION INAPPLICABLE TO PERSONS THAT POSSESS CONCEALABLE WEAPONS PERMITS AND TO PROVIDE THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO PERSONS WHO POSSESS FIREARMS; BY AMENDING SECTION 16-23-20, RELATING TO UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF HANDGUNS, SO AS TO REVISE THE PLACES WHERE AND CIRCUMSTANCES UPON WHICH HANDGUNS MAY BE CARRIED, AND PERSONS WHO MAY CARRY HANDGUNS; BY...

While most of the recent discussion about Constitutional or permitless carry has centered around Florida (where a permitless carry bill is now queued up and ready for action on the floor of the House once the legislative session officially kicks off next month), the Sunshine State isn’t the only place where lawmakers are considering removing the requirement that legal gun owners obtain a state-issued permission slip before exercising their right to bear arms. A permitless carry bill is awaiting action on the floor of the Nebraska Senate as well, and in South Carolina the House of Representative overwhelmingly voted in...