Federal suit challenges S.C. 'disturbing schools' law

A Greenville County student is among a group of plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of South Carolina’s law that makes it a crime to “disturb” schools.

The New York-based American Civil Liberties Union, along with its South Carolina affiliate, filed the suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Charleston. The organization in a release contends that “hundreds of students – as young as 7 years old – are being charged under a far-reaching and nebulous statute for behaviors like loitering, cursing, or undefined ‘obnoxious’ actions on school grounds."

“The statute also has a chilling effect on students who speak out against policing abuses within the schools,” the release said, noting that black students are “nearly four times as likely to be targeted under the law.”

Sarah Hinger, the lead ACLU attorney in the suit, told The Greenville News Thursday afternoon her clients plan to seek a preliminary court injunction to “stop the enforcement of the law.”

Read more: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2016/08/11/federal-suit-challenges-sc-disturbing-schools-law/88582064/