South Carolinians Sue to End Unauthorized Police Surveillance Program
Surveillance of Motorists Violates Democratic Protections
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2022
Contact: Joshua Manson, joshua.manson@nyu.edu, (914) 357-0000
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.
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 Policing Project at New York University School of Law, and the firm Flores Menegakis LLC, who are lending their services pro bono.
“There is not a single statute that gives SLED the power to run a vast surveillance program on South Carolina roads.” 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 the South Carolina Supreme Court. They asked the justices to exercise their power to hear the case promptly, without the involvement of the lower courts, and to declare that the surveillance program violates the South Carolina Constitution and Administrative Procedures Act.
“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 2
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. 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.”
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 argued numerous cases before the South Carolina Supreme Court, two of which were selected as the Court’s case of the month. 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.