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| | Issue #21.19 :: 05/07/2008 - 05/13/2008 | National ACLU Takes Over SC Chapter
| BY ERIC K. WARD
| If there is one state that can ill afford an ineffective chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union it arguably is South Carolina.
Proposed Christian license plates. Legislative assaults on equality for non-heterosexuals. The case of Darla Kaye Wynne.
If Wynne’s name doesn’t ring a bell, she is a pagan who a few years ago sued Great Falls, just north of Columbia, for its Town Council saying unconstitutional Christian prayers at the council’s meetings. Great Falls residents ostracized and persecuted Wynne for taking such a stand, but the ACLU of South Carolina helped her win her case.
It was a rare bright moment for the state affiliate, which in recent years has been hampered by ideological squabbling among its board members, staff leadership turnover, lackluster membership and fundraising numbers and a virtually nonexistent media presence.
Aware of the problems for some time, the national ACLU board has decided to step in and try to right the ship. The decision made national news.
On April 27, the board voted 74-4 to take control of the state chapter, an action known as “receivership.” In a statement, the board described the chapter as dysfunctional.
“It’s the board,” says Columbia activist Kevin Gray, a member of the state board for about 20 years. “The board has become ineffectual.”
It is the first such move by the organization in its history, according to an April 28 report in The New York Times.
“South Carolina as a state has a tremendous amount of civil liberties challenges, and our goal is to make sure there is a strong and viable affiliate to deal with those issues,” Robert Remar, vice president of the ACLU and a lawyer in Atlanta, says in the Times story.
In an interview, Remar says national was disturbed by the South Carolina issues. “It was overwhelming,” he says of the board’s decision.
Greenville attorney Neil Caesar, president of the state ACLU, acknowledges the group’s troubles. “I would say it’s a combination of factors,” Caesar says. “The board has been fractious for many years.”
He says the state chapter has been improving — influencing local governments on church and state issues, increasing its media profile — but not fast enough to satisfy national.
The biggest example: going three years with an interim rather than permanent director after the affiliate fired its last chief. “That was probably the number one thing,” Caesar says of the leadership vacuum.
He says national will reorganize the chapter by selecting a new board and presenting it to members of the affiliate for a vote of approval. The new board will then chart a way forward on a finding a director and addressing the other problems, Caesar says. | |
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