{"id":"DUT-SC-017","kind":"duty","level":"state","jurisdiction":"South Carolina","state":"SC","metro":"","industry":"","agency":"","eco":"","issuer":"Attorney General Alan Wilson, by Robert D. Cook, Solicitor General (letter to Chief Mark A. Keel, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division)","authority":"Op. S.C. Att\u0027y Gen. (Mar. 24, 2020) (letter to Chief Mark A. Keel)","instrument":"Op. S.C. Att\u0027y Gen. (letter to SLED Chief Keel), March 24, 2020, re Section 16-7-10","title":"Guidance to law enforcement regarding the interpretation, application, and enforcement of Section 16-7-10 of the South Carolina Code of Laws","dateIssued":"2020-03-24","effective":"2020-03-24","end":"n/a (advisory statement); operative while § 16-7-10 applied under the emergency (to June 6-7, 2021)","startDate":"2020-03-24","endDate":"2021-06-30","quarters":["2020Q2","2020Q3","2020Q4","2021Q1","2021Q2"],"types":["GATH","OTHER"],"addressees":["law enforcement officers; persons generally"],"clause":"Section 16-7-10 is intended in part to maintain good order during extraordinary times of emergency. The unique nature of a pandemic is such that SCDHEC and epidemiologist are strongly urging against even the most orderly large gatherings. However, the enforcement of this criminal statute must yield to established constitutional limitations.","enforcement":"n/a (construes the § 16-7-10 misdemeanor)","functions":[],"notes":"The Attorney General confirmed to the State\u0027s chief law-enforcement agency that § 16-7-10 is a criminal statute applicable during the COVID-19 emergency, that DHEC and epidemiologists were \u0027strongly urging against even the most orderly large gatherings,\u0027 and that its enforcement must accommodate gatherings protected by fundamental constitutional rights (religious meetings, weddings, funerals, the family unit, political assembly). Character as recorded: agency_interpretation (Attorney General opinion; order_penalty layer).","sourceUrl":"https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2020-03-24-Letter-to-Chief-Keel-re-Section-16-7-10-02243232xD2C78.pdf","snapshot":"","fileExists":true,"fileBytes":230309,"grade":"primary","character":"agency_interpretation","description":"","collection":"DUT-SC","url":"/library/DUT-SC-017","exhibitUrl":"/exhibit/DUT-SC-017","citation":"Attorney General Alan Wilson, by Robert D. Cook, Solicitor General (letter to Chief Mark A. Keel, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division), Op. S.C. Att\u0027y Gen. (letter to SLED Chief Keel), March 24, 2020, re Section 16-7-10 (Mar. 24, 2020) (Ex. DUT-SC-017)","stateName":"South Carolina","related":["DUT-SC-018","DUT-SC-004"]}