COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A caucus of South Carolina lawmakers will have their legal fees paid by the State after successfully challenging a prohibition on its activities.
Federal judge Cameron McGowan Currie on Aug. 22 awarded closed to $79,000 in fees and costs for the South Carolina Freedom Caucus, which was represented in its case by Christopher Mills of Spero Law and America First Legal Foundation.
"No precedent appears to have dealt with a legal scheme exactly like the one at issue here, and neither the briefing nor the court's research revealed cases concerning special interest caucus limited by legislative bodies in other jurisdictions," Currie wrote.
"Although the questions at hand were novel, they were related to other constitutional questions, and required skill to utilize existing case law as applied to this unique situation. Attorney Mills was required to move quickly on this case, as his clients believed their constitutional rights were being vioated, and he achieved success early in the case."
In May, Currie granted summary judgment to the Freedom Caucus, which includes members of the state House of Representatives who wish to promote conservative principles like the rule of law and equal protection.
They said their free speech rights were violated because they were prohibited from engaging in "any activity that would influence the outcome of an election or ballot measure" while other caucuses could engage in speech and raising and spending money for such political speech.
Those caucuses with "favored" causes are the House Democratic Caucus, the Black Caucus and Women's Caucus, the suit says. Caucuses organized according to party, race or gender were permitted to engage in political speech, irking the others who were not.
The Freedom Caucus said South Carolina, which passed ethics measures in response to corruption in the state legislature that saw 17 members arrested for bribery, extortion or drug use between 1989-99.
In 2006, the legislature added a new type called "legislative special interest caucus," overriding a veto from the governor's office.
There are 15 House legislative special interest caucuses that will be helped by Currie's opinion. She found the portion of state law not allowing them to "engage in any activity that would influence the outcome of an election or ballot measure violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
It also struck down the portion stating a lobbyist can't offer or provide contributions to a legislative special interest caucus. Those groups can now solicit contributions and accept funds from a lobbyist, while no longer maintaining the name and address of each person making a donation in the past four years.