Eamon Flynn, Author at South Carolina Public Interest Foundation

Is AI Redacting Your FOIA Requests?

October 13, 2026October 13, 2026 by Eamon Flynn Comment Closed

Government agencies are starting to let artificial intelligence help decide which records answer a public records request and what gets blacked out before release. In most places, including South Carolina, these agencies aren’t required to tell the requester that they used AI. The federal government is the furthest along with using AI for FOIA redactions. The Washington Post reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection plan to use Google’s AI and machine learning tools to recommend redactions to its FOIA officers (Washington Post). DHS told the paper it would apply the tools to request types making up more than 10% of its caseload, roughly 100,000 to 140,000 requests (Washington Post). Interior uses Microsoft technology to flag possible attorney-client material, Justice uses a Veritone product to redact video, and HHS is building a tool called “FRED” with an unnamed contractor (Washington Post). None of this is unusual anymore. According to the National Archives, one-fifth of federal agencies have started using machine learning...

South Carolina’s Financial Reform Deadline Has Passed, Here’s Where Things Actually Stand

April 6, 2026September 28, 2026 by Eamon Flynn Comment Closed

A final compliance report confirms significant progress, but several key reforms remain unfinished months after lawmakers and citizens expected them to be done. South Carolina legislators gave state agencies a firm deadline: March 7, 2026. By that date, every recommendation that did not require a change in law from a sweeping forensic accounting review of the state's finances was supposed to be fully implemented. The SC Public Interest Foundation had been tracking that deadline closely, and in our February 2026 article, we laid out the stakes clearly. Click Here to Read The February 2026 Article. Now, with a final compliance report from Forvis Mazars dated March 9, 2026, there is an official accounting of where things stand. The picture is better than a worst-case scenario but far short of the finish line the law required. To understand why this matters, some background is necessary. Starting in 2012, a mapping error inside the state's accounting software, combined with poor internal quality controls within...

Lawsuit Challenges Governor’s Authority to Deploy National Guard Beyond State Borders

February 27, 2026May 16, 2026 by Eamon Flynn Comment Closed

South Carolina Governor Faces Legal Challenge Over National Guard Deployment to Washington, D.C. The South Carolina Public Interest Foundation and a Navy veteran have filed a lawsuit in South Carolina’s Supreme Court challenging Governor Henry McMaster’s deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., arguing the move exceeds his legal authority under state law. The complaint, filed on January 7, 2026, seeks to block McMaster’s second deployment of South Carolina guardsmen to the nation’s capital which saw 300 troops sent to D.C. in late November 2025. The plaintiffs argue that state law strictly limits when and where the governor can deploy the National Guard, and that the current deployment violates those restrictions. The Deployment in Question Governor McMaster first authorized the deployment of 200 South Carolina National Guardsmen to Washington D.C., in August 2025, responding to President Trump’s executive order declaring a “crime emergency” in D.C. That initial deployment lasted over a month before ending in late September. On November 26, 2025, McMaster announced via...

A Practical Solution to South Carolina’s Zero-Based Budgeting Crisis: The Hybrid Approach

February 20, 2026May 16, 2026 by Eamon Flynn Comment Closed

The Reality of Non-Compliance Since 1979, South Carolina law has required state agencies to practice zero-based budgeting (ZBB), justifying every dollar they spend from scratch each year. Section 2-7-65 of the South Carolina Code explicitly states that “each state agency, department, or institution shall be required to justify its recurring expenses, as well as any new or additional expenses.”(S.C. Code Section 2-7-65) This wasn’t merely a suggestion; it was a law designed to prevent unchecked spending growth and protect taxpayer dollars. Since 2011, elected officials have largely abandoned this statutory requirement, reverting to “incremental budgeting” under Governor Nikki Hailey, which only scrutinizes new spending. The consequences have been dramatic. South Carolina’s total state spending has surged from approximately $2 billion in FY 1979-80 to $5.1 Billion in General Fund spending in 2011, to $12.4 billion by FY 2025, thus representing a compounded annual growth rate far exceeding 5% when adjusted for inflation and population. (Data compiled from South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal...

The Deadline for Financial Accountability in South Carolina is March 7, 2026

January 6, 2026September 22, 2026 by Eamon Flynn Comment Closed

The exterior of the South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina. Executive Summary After years of accusations, investigations and resignations regarding the accuracy of SC's financial accountability reporting, a professional analysis was commissioned outlining specific actions by various state agencies to eliminate similar problems in the future. The date to complete these process improvements is March 7, 2026 The investigation also raises questions about government transparency, including how a FOIA request in South Carolina can be used to obtain communications between public agencies and legislative investigators. The Investigation: What Happened with the 2022 Financial Report? In South Carolina, state law requires an Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). This detailed financial document covers all state government entities and is prepared by the Comptroller General’s Office (CGO) according to the standards of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). In fiscal year 2022, the State’s ACFR, page 147, documented an accounting error as stated here: “Until being discovered in 2022, this mapping error impacted the ACFRs for fiscal...

Why Does Public Interest Litigation Take So Long?

October 10, 2025October 24, 2025 by Eamon Flynn Comment Closed

Written by: Eamon Flynn, Second Year Student at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law It is no secret that the American legal system is slow. A harm is suffered, a complaint is filed and responded to, discovery is conducted, and parties file motions, all before a trial is conducted. Then, the trial process itself occurs, which can take a lengthy period, depending on the facts of the case. Once a decision is made, post-trial motions can be filed, and the decision can be appealed, which lengthens the process even further. It can take years for any kind of civil case to be settled, and public interest cases tend to take longer than most other kinds of cases to be decided. SCPIF's Litigation Out of eight pending cases the South Carolina Public Interest Foundation (SCPIF) is involved in, two have been going on for a year, two have been for two years, three have been going on for more...

Clemson University Faces Legal Challenges Over Lifetime Trustees

September 26, 2025October 24, 2025 by Eamon Flynn Comment Closed

A significant constitutional dispute over Clemson University’s Board of Trustees is making its way through South Carolina’s court system. The case, brought by NOLAS Trading Co. and Ned Sloan, later taken over by his son, John Sloan challenges the appointment and service terms of the university’s lifetime trustees. Background and Legal Framework Clemson University was established through the will of Thomas G. Clemson, which provided for seven “Life Trustees” to govern the institution alongside six trustees elected by the State for four-year terms. These life trustees, originally appointed by Clemson’s will, have operated as a self-perpetuating group since the university’s founding, with existing life trustees appointing replacements when vacancies occur through either death or resignation. The constitutional challenge centers on two key restrictions found in South Carolina Constitution of 1895 which established no person may be “elected or appointed” to office in the state for life or during good behavior, and all officers must serve terms “for some specified period” except for notaries...

SLED’s Automatic License Plate Readers Still Allowed by a South Carolina Court

September 19, 2025October 24, 2025 by Eamon Flynn Comment Closed

A South Carolina judge has upheld SLED's usage of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in South Carolina. ALPRs have been placed throughout the state and indiscriminately capture the license plates of all those who drive through their field of view. After tracking the license plates, that information would be retained in a database for up to a year. As of June 2023, 431 million data entries pinpointing the precise timestamped location of drivers across South Carolina were stored in that database. More than 99.8% of those location observations had no connection to any vehicle of interest to law enforcement at the time that data was captured. Due to the use of ALPRs and the database, SCPIF filed a complaint against the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) in April 2023 arguing SLED use these systems without legislative permission. On May 12, 2025, Judge Thomas W. McGee III of the Richland County Court of Common Pleas granted SLEDs motion for summary judgment, allowing...