South Carolinians Sue to End Unauthorized Police Surveillance Program

Surveillance of Motorists Violates Democratic Protections, State Constitution 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 11, 2023

Media Contact: Joshua Manson, Policing Project at NYU School of Law, 914-357-0000, joshua.manson@nyu.edu

COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Public Interest Foundation (SCPIF) and a Greenville resident today filed a lawsuit against the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) for its operation of a secretive surveillance program that automatically tracks and records the movements of all drivers on the state’s roads and highways. 

SLED’s program uses automated license plate readers (ALPRs) across the state to indiscriminately capture more than 100 million time- and location-stamped photos of South Carolina vehicles each year. SLED stores this information in a searchable, centralized database to which it has given at least 99 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies access. As the lawsuit explains, SLED’s decision to create and disseminate travel information on law-abiding drivers in South Carolina was made without any permission or authority from the legislature. As a result, there are no legislative guardrails to protect against misuse and abuse.

Last fall, the Plaintiffs petitioned the South Carolina State Supreme Court to hear the case directly, but the court declined, instead directing that the suit be brought first at the trial court. 

The lawsuit is being brought by SCPIF, a public service organization whose goal is defending South Carolina's Constitution, deterring violations of its statutory and common law by government actors, and promoting the rule of law. Joining the organization in the suit is Greenville resident John Sloan. The plaintiffs are represented by attorney James Carpenter, the firm Flores Menegakis LLC, and the Policing Project at New York University School of Law.

“There is not a single statute that gives SLED the power to run a vast surveillance program on South Carolinians who are accused of nothing at all,” said Barry Friedman, the founding director of the Policing Project and the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law at NYU Law. “SLED’s continued operation of the program defies the basic principles of democratic governance. It’s up to the General Assembly to determine whether a comprehensive ALPR surveillance program should exist in South Carolina and, if so, what it should look like. SLED cannot make this decision unilaterally.”

The Plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in South Carolina state court. They have asked the court to declare that the surveillance program violates the South Carolina Constitution and Administrative Procedures Act, and to prevent SLED from operating the program unless and until it is democratically authorized. 

“Given the explosive growth of ALPR technology and SLED’s expanding database, the issues this case presents are as urgent as they are legally significant,” said Carpenter. “A cornerstone of South Carolina’s constitutional system is that any agency action must be authorized by the elected representatives of the people. All we are asking is for SLED to follow the law.”

“No government agency or actor is above the law,” said Sloan. “SLED cannot insulate itself from democratic accountability by short circuiting democratic procedures.”

Unlike South Carolina, a number of states have passed legislation to regulate law enforcement’s use of ALPR cameras and databases. Those laws limit how photos may be used, how long they may be stored, and who may access them, amongst other provisions.

“Legislative guardrails are particularly important when a government program implicates fundamental privacy interests,” said Allie Menegakis, partner at Flores Menegakis LLC and Executive Director of the nonprofit South Carolina for Criminal Justice Reform. “The travel dossiers SLED’s ALPR program creates can provide intimate details about an individual’s life, including medical care they receive and their family, religious, and political associations. No government agency should be able to operate such a program based on its own whims.”

Read the Complaint here. For more information on the case, please visit https://www.policingproject.org/south-carolina-license-plate-reader-lawsuit. 

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The Policing Project at NYU School of Law promotes public safety through transparency, equity, and democratic engagement. Learn about the Policing Project at www.policingproject.org.

James Carpenter has represented clients in litigation in state and federal trial courts, and at the appellate level, for more than twenty years..  His public interest cases have involved procurement by government agencies, violations of various state statutes and the South Carolina Constitution as well as the Freedom of Information Act. Learn more about his practice at http://www.carpenterlawfirm.net/jim-carpenter.php. 

Flores Menegakis LLC is a boutique law firm based in Charleston, South Carolina with a focus in criminal defense representation and civil rights litigation.  Learn more at www.fmcriminallaw.com. 

South Carolina for Criminal Justice Reform (SC4CJR) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating mass incarceration and achieving fair, equal, and humane treatment of the criminally accused via research, education, and advocacy.  Learn more at www.sc4cjr.org.