Spartanburg city council approves hate crime ordinance
Spartanburg City is the second municipality in Spartanburg County to approve a hate crime ordinance. It follows Wellford, which approved its ordinance in 2024.
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Spartanburg City Council approved the final reading at its October meeting earlier this month.
According to The Post & Courier's Spartanburg edition, the ordinance imposes an additional misdemeanor charge of hate intimidation if someone is convicted of an underlying crime that’s motivated by “the actual or perceived ethnicity, race, color, creed, national origin, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or physical or mental disability of the victim.”
Wellford City Council approved its hate crime ordinance after its second and final reading on September 3, 2024.
South Carolina and Wyoming are the only states in the U.S. without a statewide hate crimes ordinance.
The South Carolina Attorney General's Office issued a non-binding opinion stating that local governments are overstepping their boundaries in passing their own hate crime ordinances since that's a role for the General Assembly.
According to the South Carolina Daily Gazette, the opinion, dated Oct. 10, was sought by Greenwood’s city attorney, after a resident called on City Council during a public meeting in June to pass its own ordinance.
South Carolina's House of Representatives passed hate crimes legislation during the 2021-2022 sessions and 2023-2024 sessions, but the senate declined to consider those bills.
