The S.C. Department of Corrections' mission statement
pledges to "protect the public, our employees, and our inmates," "provide
rehabilitation and self-improvement opportunities for inmates," and "promote
professional excellence, fiscal responsibility, and self-sufficiency." It does
not, and should not, pledge to pay for legal judgments incurred due to
legislative action. Yet that's just what the agency, along with the Department
of Social Services and the Department of Motor Vehicles, now must do.
Four years ago, the General Assembly passed legislation giving vehicle owners
an option to buy an abortion "Choose Life" license plate. Planned Parenthood,
objecting to the state's promotion of an anti-abortion message, sued a few days
later and ultimately won its federal court battle to block the tag, with the
U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear the state's appeal early this year.
But the judgment didn't just block the tags. It required that the losing side
pay the $157,810 legal bill incurred by Planned Parenthood in this case. And
because the suit named the departments of Corrections (it was to make the
plates), Social Services (it was to receive some funding from them), and Motor
Vehicles (it was to administer plate distribution), those agencies were legally
liable for that judgment.
The agencies asked to use the state's Insurance Reserve Fund for this
purpose, but because the suit sought no specific claim of damage, that wasn't
the proper source. Yet the State Budget and Control Board could have, and should
have, approved the agencies' subsequent request that the judgment be paid from
the state's contingency fund. All five members of the board must agree on any
withdrawal from that fund, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh
Leatherman, R-Florence, in effect vetoed the request, telling The Associated
Press last week the agencies have the money to cover the cost.
Simply because the agencies have that much money doesn't mean they should use
it to pay the tab for carrying out a legislative directive. This is a
particularly troubling development for the Department of Corrections. As Gov.
Mark Sanford's spokesman told us last week, that agency "has been living on a
shoestring budget."
Thanks to Sen. Leatherman's refusal to grant this needed and fitting use of
the contingency fund, that department must tighten its budget even further. The
General Assembly should correct this mistake in the next legislative session by
refunding the money to all three agencies.
