Tag: Malice Aforethought

Dillon County School Board Attorneys Interfere in House District 55 Campaign

(Jack Scott pictured above)

Attorneys representing the Dillon County Board of Education have involved themselves in the current primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for S.C. House District 55.

White and Story, LLC sent a letter to candidate and current Dillon County Council member Jack Scott requesting Scott remove some posts from “your social media site relating to your political campaign.”

The attorneys requested Scott remove posts allegedly containing “misleading communications” and “patently false information” and “cease and desist from making any other defamatory statements.”

The four-page letter goes on to address specific lines in various posts on Scott’s website with additional exhibits of the full posts included with the communication. (Click on the link below to view the letter and exhibits).

What is particularly interesting is the areas of emphasis, according to lawyer bios on the firm’s website, are: providing advice and counsel on issues relating to personnel matters, student discipline, the education of students with special needs, policy development, board/executive officer relations and tort issues.

The issues addressed in the letter, however, deal with free speech protections of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The letter appears to specifically take issue with core political speech, the form of speech elevated above all others in protections against its restriction, according to numerous U.S. Supreme Court decisions over the years.

The letter cherry picks sentences or phrases from larger texts to demonstrate what the attorneys allege are “misleading” or “patently false” statements. However, when viewed within the context of the larger posts in which they are contained, the statements objected to seem to be well within the general form of core political speech practiced by the vast majority of politicians today and quite tame compared to what spews forth from the White House on a weekly basis via Twitter.

Rep. Greg Duckworth v. The Public?

A post earlier this week in The Nerve told of newly elected Rep. Greg Duckworth (SC House District 104) pursuing libel lawsuits against two supporters of outgoing Rep. Tracy Edge.

Duckworth’s libel claims concern letters to the editor by Charles Collins and Bren Gibson during the 2012 election season. Edge defeated Duckworth in the 2012 Republican primary but lost to him in 2014.

The first thing that comes to mind – “Is this guy serious?”

Malice Aforethought

It’s not a unique event, but the SCGOP and its Chairman Chad Connelly will be defending another lawsuit in the coming weeks, this time over the verbal bombs Connelly has been dropping on fellow Republican Brian Frank over the last week.

According to party records, the SCGOP has spent approximately $366,000 in legal fees during the nearly two years of Connelly’s tenure as chairman. This is all expense that diverts the party from its primary mission of getting candidates elected.

However, that’s another story.