2009-2010 Bill 3731: Friendship Nine Act - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 118th Session, 2009-2010 3 4 H. 3731 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Rep. King 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5824cm09.docx 11 12 Introduced in the House on March 24, 2009 13 Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary 14 15 Summary: Friendship Nine Act 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 3/24/2009 House Introduced and read first time HJ16 22 3/24/2009 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ16 23 24 25 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 26 27 3/24/2009 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 8 TO CHAPTER 21, TITLE 24 13 SO AS TO ENACT THE “FRIENDSHIP NINE ACT”, TO 14 PROVIDE A PROCEDURE WHEREBY A PERSON WHO MAY 15 OBTAIN A PARDON FOR A CONVICTION FOR CONDUCT 16 RELATED TO THE PROTESTING OR CHALLENGING A 17 STATE LAW, OR A COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE 18 WHOSE PURPOSE WAS TO MAINTAIN RACIAL 19 SEGREGATION OR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION OF 20 INDIVIDUALS. 21 22 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 23 Carolina: 24 25 SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Title 24 of the 1976 Code is amended 26 by adding: 27 28 “Article 8 29 30 Friendship Nine Act 31 32 Section 2421810. This act may be known as the ‘Friendship 33 Nine Act’. 34 35 Section 2421820. (A) A person, who, prior to January 1, 36 1980, while protesting or challenging within the state, a state law, 37 or a county or municipal ordinance whose purpose was to maintain 38 racial segregation or racial discrimination of individuals, was 39 convicted solely for the conduct related to the protest or challenge, 40 upon written application to the Board of Probation, Parole and 41 Pardon Services, must be granted a pardon of the conviction upon 42 written application to the board. The board shall provide notice of

[3731] 2 1 the application to the solicitor where the violation occurred within 2 thirty days after its submission to the board. The pardon must be 3 granted within ninety days after submission of the application 4 unless it is objected to by the solicitor on the grounds permitted in 5 Section 2421830. 6 (B) The board shall develop and distribute the application form 7 to be used by an applicant. 8 9 Section 2421830. (A) A solicitor may object to an 10 application for a pardon under this article only on the grounds that 11 the application contains false or fraudulent information, or that the 12 basis of the applicant’s conviction was not for protesting or 13 challenging a state law, or county or municipal ordinance whose 14 purpose was to maintain racial segregation or racial discrimination 15 of individuals. 16 (B) If the solicitor objects to the granting of a pardon under this 17 article and provides documentation supporting a finding that the 18 application contains false or fraudulent information, or that the 19 basis of the applicant’s conviction was not for protesting or 20 challenging a state law, or county or municipal ordinance whose 21 purpose was to maintain racial segregation or racial discrimination 22 of individuals, the board must: 23 (1) notify the applicant in writing of the solicitor’s objection 24 and provide the applicant with a copy of all documents submitted 25 by the solicitor within ten days of receiving the objection; and 26 (2) provide the applicant with an opportunity to submit a 27 written rebuttal to the objection of the solicitor within thirty days 28 of receiving a copy of the solicitor’s objection and supporting 29 documentation. 30 (C) The board must review the documentation submitted by the 31 solicitor and any rebuttal matters submitted by the applicant, and 32 render a determination within sixty days of receiving the solicitor’s 33 objection. 34 (D) If the board determines that there is substantial evidence to 35 support a finding that the application contains false or fraudulent 36 information, or that the basis of the applicant’s conviction was not 37 for protesting or challenging a state law, or a county or municipal 38 ordinance whose purpose was to maintain racial segregation or 39 racial discrimination of individuals, the board must forward its 40 findings and recommendations to the Governor for a final 41 determination on whether to grant the application. If the board 42 determines that substantial evidence does not exist to support a 43 finding that the application contains false or fraudulent

[3731] 3 1 information, or that the basis of the applicant’s conviction was not 2 for protesting or challenging a state law, or county or municipal 3 ordinance whose purpose was to maintain racial segregation or 4 racial discrimination of individuals, then the application for a 5 pardon must be granted. 6 7 Section 2421840. If the convicted person is deceased, the 8 application may be filed by a person who has legal authority to act 9 on behalf of the deceased person. 10 11 Section 2421850. (A) Upon petition by the person 12 obtaining a pardon, the record of the person pertaining solely to the 13 conviction for which a pardon is granted under this article must be 14 transferred by a court of competent jurisdiction to the South 15 Carolina Department of Archives and History for confidential 16 keeping. The record of the conviction maintained by the South 17 Carolina Department of Archives and History shall be the only 18 record of the conviction. 19 (B) If the person is deceased, the petition may be filed by a 20 person who has legal authority to act on behalf of the deceased 21 person. 22 23 Section 2421860. A person who receives a pardon pursuant 24 to the provision of this article shall have his pardon application fee 25 refunded to him within thirty days of the date the pardon is 26 granted.” 27 28 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 29 Governor. 30 XX 31

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