Beaufort weighs penalties for ‘hate intimidation’ over race, religion and gender identity

More South Carolina communities are moving to pass hate crime ordinances in the absence of a statewide law, and the City of Beaufort is preparing to join them.

Under a proposed new ordinance recommended by City Manager Scott Marshall, “a person who violates another with the intent to intimidate another person or persons in whole or in part because of the actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or national origin of the other person or persons is guilty of the separate offense of hate intimidation.”

Violations against these protected classes would be misdemeanors and bring fines of up to $500 and jail time of up to 30 days.

Beaufort’s ordinance would not create a stand-alone offense, meaning a person would need to be charged first with some other underlying violation, with the hate intimidation charge being added if warranted, Assistant City Manager John J. Sauve said.

Over the past two years, no hate crimes have been reported in Beaufort, Sauve said, but the ordinance is a proactive step to address the issue.

In 2022, 65 hate crimes were reported statewide, according to the FBI. Of those, 40 involved race/ethnicity/ancestry; 13, religion; 10, sexual orientation; and 2, gender identity.

Beaufort City Council members discussed the proposal for the first time at a work session Tuesday but took no action. Two votes would be required to approve it.

Sauve reported that nine South Carolina cities — Bluffton, Hardeeville, Greenville, Mount Pleasant, Columbia, Charleston, Clemson, Conway and Florence — had adopted local hate crime ordinances. But the City of Myrtle Beach became the 10th when it adopted an ordinance on Tuesday morning.

The “Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act” has passed the House and the South Carolina Senate’s Judiciary Committee but not the full Senate. The bill that would set additional penalties for people convicted of a crime based on bias.

Pinckney, a Beaufort native, was a Black South Carolina senator and pastor among 9 members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston shot and killed in a June 2015 mass shooting during a Bible study. Survivors of that attack have lobbied for the passage of the bill, but it failed the past three years, making South Carolina one of two states — the other being Wyoming — that does not have a state hate crimes law.

Beaufort and other cities are considering their own ordinances as a result of the uncertainty over the state legislation, said Marshall.

“I don’t know whether it’s going to pass or not, but there’s a good chance it will not,” Marshall said.

Council Neil Lipsitz expressed his strong support for the local ordinance. “I want it done as quickly as we can,” Lipsitz said.

Mayor Phil Cromer and Councilman Josh Scallate raised concerns about implementation.

Scallate, who said he supports the state hate crimes bill that passed the House, asked for an example of a hate crime involving gender identity that would be worthy of charges and the proposed fine of up to $500 and 30 days in jail.

“If we’re writing legislation for it, I want to make sure we have a plan for being able to quantify that and being able to say, ‘This is a hate crime’ against what somebody feels on the inside,” Scallate said.

Sauve, who had no example, read a definition of gender identity.

“Someone’s gender identity is internal,” said Sauve. “One’s gender identity is not necessarily visible to others. All people have a gender identity.”

In his experience prosecuting hate crime in North Carolina, the communication used in those cases was usually pretty clear, said Suave, a who served as an assistant district attorney in that state.

Implementing the ordinance will add a layer of investigation making additional training for police officers especially important, Mayor Cromer said. It will be up to those officers to figure out what was said and done, he said.

“I guess my issue with it is, how do you prove motive?” Cromer said. “It’s very subjective.”

Officers are currently going through this type of training, Interim Chief Stephenie Price said, “because this is a discussion point not just here in Beaufort but the United States as a whole.”

Scallate also has questions about the cost of the additional hate crime sentences and the possibility of exacerbating already overcrowded jail facilities. “I just want to make sure we’re prepared for the potential of an extended stay,” he said.

Councilman Mitch Mitchell said the cost should not be a factor in implementing the ordinance. With any crime, Mitchell said, “There’s a cost that comes with the weight of the crime.”

Under the Beaufort ordinance, the hate crime punishment must be consecutive — or in addition to — the sentence for the underlying crime unless the court decides otherwise. The court may also impose community service or participation in an educational program.

“Any sentence may be suspended upon completion by the defendant of appropriate education, counseling or community service employment as ordered by the court,” says the language of the proposed ordinance.

The court could also designate that the fine be given to programs designed to combat bias.