This is the law that justified that violent South Carolina arrest


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The school police officer caught on camera violently arresting a student in her classroom in South Carolina has been fired — but the law that justified his decision to make an arrest is still on the books.
The charge the officer had in mind was "disturbing a school," a misdemeanor offense with fines up to $1,000 and penalties of as much as three months in jail:
SECTION 16-17-420. Disturbing schools; summary court jurisdiction.(A) It shall be unlawful:(1) for any person willfully or unnecessarily (a) to interfere with or to disturb in any way or in any place the students or teachers of any school or college in this State, (b) to loiter about such school or college premises or (c) to act in an obnoxious manner thereon; or(2) for any person to (a) enter upon any such school or college premises or (b) loiter around the premises, except on business, without the permission of the principal or president in charge. [South Carolina Legislature]
The remarkably vague language of the law has long drawn criticism, but it passed a challenge at the state Supreme Court nine years ago after a student argued that prohibiting something as undefined as "obnoxious behavior" could limit First Amendment rights. State Rep. Todd Rutherford has indicated that he will both provide legal counsel to the students involved in this incident and push for a change to the law when the South Carolina legislature is back in session.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Today's political cartoons — October 1, 2023
Sunday's cartoons - retail theft, Bob Medendez's bribery charge, and more
By The Week Staff Published
-
10 things you need to know today: October 1, 2023
Daily Briefing Government shutdown avoided as Congress passes temporary funding bill, Supreme Court to begin new term as major cases await, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
6 thrilling reads chosen by Ken Follett
Feature The historical novelist suggests works by Frank Herbert, Charles Dickens and more
By The Week Staff Published
-
Former Philadelphia police officer charged with murder for Eddie Irizarry shooting
Speed Read
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
How Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio's 22-year sentence compares to other Jan. 6 punishments
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Kansas police raid small-town local newspaper, setting off a press freedoms clash
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Ohio voters defeat GOP measure to raise referendum threshold
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Ohio is voting on whether to raise the bar on referendums — and a popular abortion amendment
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Oregon lifts ban on drivers pumping their own gas
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Former Manson follower Leslie Van Houten out of prison after 50 years
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Florida construction and agricultural workforces diminished after new immigration law takes effect
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published