Allendale murder case highlights lack of S.C. hate-crime law
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - South Carolina is one of two states without a state hate-crime law.
There have been bipartisan pushes throughout the years at the State House to change that – including right now – but hate-crime legislation keeps stalling out because of some Republican opposition.
But the lack of a state statute doesn’t mean hate crimes are allowed to go unchecked in South Carolina.
On Tuesday, a trial will begin at the federal courthouse in Columbia – for the 2019 murder of a transgender woman named LaDime Doe in Allendale.
The defendant faces multiple federal charges, including a hate crime for Doe’s murder.
The U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina says this is one example to show that while South Carolina lacks a state hate-crime law, these crimes don’t go unprosecuted here.
“It’s a really high priority for us because we’re the only ones here that can do this job,” Adair Ford Boroughs said. “It’s a priority since I came into the office, and we are working really hard to increase reporting, to ensure that we are doing all that we can to protect communities in our state.”
In South Carolina, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is the only agency that prosecutes hate crimes, and the FBI is the only agency that investigates them.
That’s because there are multiple federal hate-crime statutes in place, despite there not being one at the state level.
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One of the arguments that opponents of enacting a state hate crimes law in South Carolina make is that it’s unnecessary, with those federal statutes already in place.
ers of this legislation say a state statute would allow more resources to go toward investigation and prosecution – for example, from solicitors and the attorney general’s office.
Investigating and prosecuting these crimes does require help at the local level.
The FBI leads a class in Columbia focused on hate-crime awareness for law enforcement officers.
It gives them more background on what might constitute a federal hate crime – so they can keep it in mind in their investigations and flag the FBI.
“If there’s some kind of bias that motivates it, it can be a hate crime,” said Philip Tejera of the FBI in Columbia. “We explain those things, give them that awareness, so they can understand that we’re out here, we take it seriously, and they can reach out to us to report those kind of events.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also encourages South Carolinians to report directly to the FBI of suspected hate incidents.
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