GOOD NEWS: 2 Lowcountry lawmakers want to define “consent”

Staff reports  | Two Charleston County lawmakers are among a bipartisan group working to get a clear definition in state law of what it means to say “yes” to a sexual act? 

State Reps. Lin Bennett, a Republican, and Marvin Pendarvis, a Democrat, are co-sponsors of a House effort to establish a definition of consent in a bill sponsored by Lancaster Democratic Rep, Mandy Powers Norrell.  Such a definition is in law in half of the nation’s states.

But first they have to clear a big hurdle: getting a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

“We have nothing right now in South Carolina that defines consent at all and everyone is walking around with their own definition,” Norrell said. “We have seen it litigated.  We’ve seen people say, ‘I thought she wanted to have sex’ as a defense in rape cases … Every state should clearly define what it means to consent to sexual activity in that state.”

House Bill 3829 would define consent as “words or overt actions indicating freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse or sexual contact,” and that lack of consent can be determined through words or conduct. The bill also states that previous consent for sexual acts does not determine future consent. 

Bennett said the bill was stuck in the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Charleston Republican Peter McCoy, who didn’t return calls for comment.

“I don’t know what his plans are this year but I hope (consent is) on his list,” she said.  “It’s a no brainer. It’s the right thing to do.”

Pendarvis agreed that more pressure is needed.

“Nothing moves in Columbia until we muster up the support,” he said. “The bills that have the most amount of noise behind them are the ones that move the quickest.”

• To read Statehouse Report correspondent Lindsay Street’s full story, click here.

Also in recent news:

New sister city.  Charleston City Council last week unanimously approved a Sister Cities partnership with Doha, Qatar.  

 A good cause in a box. Blessing Boxes are popping up across South Carolina as a Palmetto State way to help feed the community. Read more from our sister publication Charleston City Paper about how these micro-warehouses seek to take on the big issue of food insecurity. 

Lowcountry reps prefile bills.  Take a look at these bills prefiled last week by Lowcountry state representatives:

Tax breaks.  House Bill 4657 that would “enhance” federal opportunity zone tax breaks by offering breaks and more transparency at the state-level. Read more about S.C. Rep. Marvin Pendarvis’ plan here.  

Detectors.  HB.. 4665 by Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-North Charleston, would require all public schools have a walk-through metal detector installed at all entrances by the 2020-2021 school year.

Bullets.  H.B. 4706 by Rep. J.A. Moore, D-Goose Creek, would provide a penalty for each bullet fired from a gun when a person is fatally shot. Read more about what South Carolina residents say they want to do about shooting deaths. 

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