CAROLINA YOUTH ACTION PROJECT v. WILSON

No. 21-2166.

60 F.4th 770 (2023)

CAROLINA YOUTH ACTION PROJECT; D.S., BY AND THROUGH her next of kin Juanita FORD, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated; S.P., by and through her next of Kin Melissa Downs, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees, and Niya Kenny, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated; Taurean Nesmith, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. Alan WILSON, in his official capacity as Attorney General of South Carolina, Defendant-Appellant, and J. Alton Cannon, Jr., in his official capacity as the Sheriff of Charleston County, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Luther T. Reynolds, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of Charleston, SC; Reginald L. Burgess, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of North Charleston, SC; Carl Ritchie, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of Mt. Pleasant, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Leon Lott, in his official capacity as the Sheriff of Richland County, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; W. H. Holbrook, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of Columbia, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Johnny Mack Brown, in his official capacity as the Interim Sheriff of Greenville County, SC; Ken Miller, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of Greenville, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Lance Crowe, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of Travelers Rest, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Steve Moore, in his official capacity as Interim Chief of the Police Department of the City of Simpsonville, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; M. Bryan Turner, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of Mauldin, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Dan Reynolds, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of Greer, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; A. Keith Morton, in his official capacity as the Chief of the Police Department of the City of Fountain Inn, SC; on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Michael D. Hanshaw, in his official capacity as Interim Chief of the Police Department of the City of Simpsonville, SC, Defendants. Juvenile Defender Advocate; National Police Accountability Project; National Women's Law Center, NAACP, National Disability Rights Network, National Center for Youth Law, Advancement Project National Office, Anti-Defamation League, Atlanta Women for Equality, Bazelton Center for Mental Health Law, Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network At NYU School of Law, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Chicago Foundation for Women, Disability Rights Advocates, Family Equality, Georgetown Law-Center on Poverty and Inequality's Initiative on Gender Justice & Opportunity, Lawyers Club of San Diego, Legal Aid At Work, Men of Reform Judaism, NASW, National Network to End Domestic Violence, the Womens Law Center of Maryland, Incorporated, Union for Reform Judaism, Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Women Lawyers on Guard Inc., Women of Reform Judaism, Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Women's Bar Association of the State of New York and Women's Law Project, Amici Supporting Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided: February 22, 2023.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: James Emory Smith, Jr. , OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant. Sarah Hinger , AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION, New York, New York, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Alan Wilson , Attorney General, Robert D. Cook , Solicitor General, Thomas T. Hydrick , Assistant Deputy Solicitor General, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant. Galen Sherwin , AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION, New York, New York; Allen Chaney , AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellees. Aleksandra Chauhan , Juvenile Defender Advocate, SOUTH CAROLINA COMMISSION ON INDIGENT DEFENSE, Columbia, South Carolina, for Amicus Juvenile Defender Advocate. Lauren Bonds , Eliana Machefsky , Keisha James , NATIONAL POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT, New Orleans, Louisiana; Trisha Pande , PATTERSON HARKAVY LLP, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for Amicus National Police Accountability Project. Sabrina Bernadel , Hunter Iannucci , Sunu Chandy , Emily Martin , NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER, Washington, D.C.; Janette Louard , Victor Goode , Anna Kathryn Barnes , Office of the General Counsel, NAACP, Baltimore, Maryland; Michael Harris , Luke Fernbach , NATIONAL CENTER FOR YOUTH LAW, Oakland, California; Courtney M. Dankworth , Adrian Gonzalez , Dominique Jones , DEBEVOISE & PLIMPTON LLP, New York, New York, for Amici National Women's Law Center, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Disability Rights Network, National Center for Youth Law, and Additional Advocacy Organizations.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Heytens wrote the opinion, in which Judge Harris joined. Judge Niemeyer wrote a dissenting opinion.


South Carolina law makes it a crime for elementary and secondary school students to act "disorderly" or in a "boisterous manner"; use "obscene or profane language"; or "interfere with," "loiter about," or "act in an obnoxious manner" in (or sometimes near) a school. Our primary question is whether the challenged laws...

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