What's New?

League of Women Voters^®
of the Charleston Area

Of specific interest are the following new items:

Many of you attended the Charleston County School District meetings on Vision 2016 earlier this year. LWVCA member Jean Norman compiled a summary of the input received from these meetings. Read the CCSD Vision 2016 Forum Summary here.

March's "Hot Topic" was on The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as the Affordable Health Care Act or Obamacare, which was signed into law in March of 2010. Many states, organizations, and individuals have filed actions in federal court to challenge the law's constitutionality. The US Supreme Court has agreed to review the lawsuits and has scheduled 5 hours to hear oral arguments in March of this year.

Hot Topic Speaker: Charleston School of Law Adjunct Professor Mary Kay Schwemmer
What's in the law? How could it affect you?
March 14th, 6:30 to 8:30, YWCA, 106 Coming St. downtown

Interested in helping us battle back against H4549? (This bill would limit third-party voter registration efforts such as the Leagues'.) Sign this petition: SC Government: Stop the Assault on Voting Rights The bill is currently with the Judiciary Committee.

Federal Court has blocked Sections 4, 5 & 6 of SB 20 The League opposed SB 20 and participated in a peaceful rally on December 19th to express concern over the law.

Guess how many high school students our voter registration team registered this fall.... 917!!! Thanks to Joan Dehne and crew for introducing our youth to the world of voting!

A "HOT TOPICS" discussion about South Carolina's new immigration law and its effects on law enforcement and our community was held on November 9. Scott Bischoff, criminal defense attorney for Savage & Savage Law Firm and former public defender, will speak. Discussion to follow.
Update: Read Post and Courier article on the Forum: Law on illegal immigrants stirs up concerns during forum
Meeting Flyer

The LWVCA continues to work alongside other Leagues to promote the importance of fair and impartial courts nationwide. The League promotes independence and diversity at all levels of the state judiciary to enhance the legitimacy of our system of justice in the eyes of an increasingly diverse public. A continuation of the status quo will "affect the way citizens look at the role courts play in their communities, erode the trust in the courts, question the right of equality under the law, and negatively affect the perception of the judiciary as fair and impartial."
The Greenville League's Judicial Independence And Diversity Website is a great new resource on how the South Carolina Judicial Branch is organized and operates.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: May 2, 2012 10:43 PDT.