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On September 9, 2026, the South Carolina Supreme Court handed down its opinion in South Carolina Public Interest Foundation v. Oconee County, a case that on its surface looks like a routine municipal bond dispute but instead raises a real question about how much access citizens actually have to challenge local government financing decisions. The…

For well over a year, a lawsuit alleging that Silfab Solar was constructing an unlawful solar panel manufacturing operation next to York County schools has been frozen in place. Now, new court orders show that even after the very appeal cited as the reason for that pause has finally been decided, but the case still…

Tomorrow, SCPIF challenges the Governor’s military authority to deploy the S.C. National Guard to Washington, D.C. under poorly defined “disorderly circumstances.”  This deployment cost millions in taxpayer funding and further put S.C. at risk by deploying one of the state’s greatest disaster response teams outside of the state. Arguments will be held at Clemson University…

The South Carolina Supreme Court is coming to Clemson University on Sept. 15–16 to hear oral arguments. The two-day session will take place on campus at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts (141 Jersey Lane). While the state’s highest court usually meets in the capital city of Columbia, the justices have traveled across the state this year including a spring…

Save the date! On September 15, at 10 AM in the Brooks Center at Clemson University.  Public attendance is encouraged.  Did the Governor legally adhere to his responsibility under the state’s constitution? The SC Public Interest Foundation believes potentially unconstitutional acts must be addressed.

A Significant Setback to Silfab and York County Statements and Actions The Silfab Solar cell chemical manufacturing and panel assembly plant on Logistics Lane in Fort Mill, SC just received a ruling issued by Circuit Court Judge William A. McKinnon on July 21, 2026, in the case Silfab vs. BZA.  This ruling is the result…

The President requested, and Governor McMaster deployed South Carolina National Guard troops to the District of Columbia. While South Carolina law allows such deployments to suppress riots or mayhem, neither was occurring at the time of deployment in D.C. Democracy Forward and the ACLU of South Carolina sued the Governor and asked the SCPIF to…

Since its founding in the 1880s,  Clemson University has always had seven “life trustees”. The SC Constitution of 1895 prohibits any state officer from serving in an office  for a life term, even despite good behavior. Before his passing a few years ago, Ned Sloan, SCPIF’s founder, filed suit, alleging the life trustees violated the state Constitution. His…

The Policing Project at the New York University School of Law, SCPIF and John Sloan have teamed up to challenge SLED’s use of Unconstitutional license plate reader cameras and maintaining a database with 150 million individual reads without statutory authority or governing regulations. The Circuit Court has already heard arguments on cross-motions for summary judgment. On May…