Tag: Case Update

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 of a hearing on May 26, 2026, where oral arguments were presented by all parties to the appeal by Silfab regarding the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) May 30, 2024, final written decision. This decision unanimously reversed the York County Zoning Administrator’s interpretation that solar panel manufacturing is a permitted use in a Light Industrial (LI) district. Most importantly, the Court AFFIRMED the BZA’s decision in all aspects and rejected each of Silfab’s arguments. This ruling affirms that the citizen’s two plus years of opposing this development in its current LI location is supported by legal facts in all regards. While the Circuit Court determination that the now...

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 serve as a co-plaintiff.  The Supreme Court granted Original Jurisdiction on February 9, 2026, and gave us 20 days to file our brief. We filed our brief on March 2, 2026. Opposing counsel filed their brief March 20, with an Affidavit from Adjutant General Rob Stillwell. The affidavit claimed that S.C. National Guard troops have been deployed to a variety of places, for a variety of reasons. His affidavit, notwithstanding, fell short on addressing the core legal issue. Opposing counsel’s first argument (which is supposedly their best argument) is that public importance standing is unconstitutional. It appears, however, that because the Court granted us Original Jurisdiction,...

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 son, John Sloan became the plaintiff. Specifically, the SC Constitution Article VI, Section 1 reads: "No person may be elected or appointed to office in this State for life or during goodbehavior, but the terms of all officers must be for some specified period except officers in the militia."1 Regardless of this clear language, Clemson University, a state institution, has seven “life trustees.” The Probate Court of Pickens County granted summary judgment to Clemson, and the Circuit Court affirmed, reasoning that they were appointed privately from the will, not publicly, and therefore they were not public officers. We appealed.  At this point, both sides have filed their briefs....

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 13, the Circuit Court granted summary judgment to the Defendants; on May 22, Plaintiffs filed a Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment. This motion was unopposed.  The Court recently granted the motion, and SCPIF has filed a Notice of Appeal. At the current moment, we have filed our initial brief, with the Cato Institute additionally filing an Amicus Brief on our behalf. The respondents now have until early July to pen their response....