COLUMBIA — Following a show of overwhelming public support through the 2024 South Carolina Republican Presidential Preferential Primary advisory question about the need for lawsuit reform in the state, legislative and business leaders from around the state are again calling for the immediate consideration and passage of the South Carolina Justice Act.
604,177 of the 688,536 South Carolinians – or 87.75% – who answered the advisory question agreed that there is an immediate need to “change state law so that a person’s responsibility for financial damages in a lawsuit is based on that person’s actual share of responsibility.”
“South Carolina Republican primary voters have again expressed their overwhelming support for immediate legislative action to ensure that a person’s responsibility for financial damages in a lawsuit is based on that person’s actual share of responsibility,” said Senator Ross Turner, a republican from Greenville County. “Republicans in South Carolina are eager to see the provisions of the South Carolina Justice Act become law,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, an Edgefield County Republican. “The time to pass this bill is now.”
The South Carolina Justice Act modernizes the way South Carolina’s liability laws work to ensure businesses are only responsible for paying damages equivalent to their share of fault in civil lawsuits. The bill is critical to ensuring that South Carolina remains competitive in recruiting and retaining industry and jobs while continuing to protect injured workers.
“Nearly 90% of Republican primary voters expressed overwhelming support for immediate legislative action on the goal of the South Carolina Justice Act,” said Representative Mark Smith, a republican from Berkeley County who sponsored the legislation in the House of Representatives. “The Republican controlled legislature must pass this reasonable measure or be prepared for the consequences at the ballot box. We encourage our Senate colleagues to please send us S. 533 so that the House may consider it this session.”
“This is important legislation that would have a big impact on small businesses like mine,” said Willis Ponds, President and CEO of Willis Sinclair Homes in Lodge, South Carolina. “Our current civil justice system amounts to a hidden tax on all South Carolinians. The threat of frivolous lawsuits drives up the cost of business insurance which in turn drives up prices. We need our legislators to support South Carolina’s small businesses and families and vote to stop lawsuit abuse.”
“South Carolina needs a civil justice system that reflects the reasoned and balanced approach that voters across our state have demanded. It is time for the legislature to answer the call of the Supreme Court and address this system that is crippling to many businesses across South Carolina,” said Leslie Clark, Chair of the South Carolina Coalition for Lawsuit Reform.
