City of Cayce, S.C., Passes Landmark Hate Crime Ordinance

In a significant move towards championing equality and diversity, the City of Cayce has passed a hate crime ordinance. Recognizing its diverse population of residents and visitors, the City Council approved the new ordinance, aimed to protect individuals from crimes driven by bias or hate.

What the Ordinance Entails

The ordinance recognizes the city’s community as a diverse collage of individuals spanning across a broad spectrum of races, colors, religions, ancestries, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, physical and mental disabilities, and national origins. It covers crimes driven by bias or hatred towards anyone part or in full due to their perceived or actual race, color, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or national origin. The ordinance provides for additional penalties on top of those for the underlying crime violation.

In a unanimous vote, the City Council approved the ordinance banning hate intimidation. An individual cannot intimidate anyone else based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

Encouraging Other Cities to Follow Suit

Councilman Byron Thomas, who has been working tirelessly on this legislation since taking office, called upon other cities and towns in South Carolina, and specifically in Lexington county, to enact similar ordinances. Commenting on the significant move, Thomas said, “I encourage other cities to pass some sort of hate crime legislation so that their citizens know that love rules in their city and hate has no place.”

Law Enforcement’s Role

Commenting on the new ordinance, Cayce police chief Chris Cowan expressed that such legislation was paramount in maintaining open communication between residents of Cayce and law enforcement. He affirmed, “This isn’t about curtailing free speech but protecting it.”

According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2022, over half of the more than 13,000 hate crime victims experienced bias pertaining to race, ethnicity, and ancestry. Cowan believes this ordinance serves as an enforcement tool, and sends a strong message that hate will not be tolerated. The new ordinance enables a judge to add an additional fine of nearly 11 hundred dollars and/or 30 additional days in jail on top of the sentence for the original crime.

Taking Charge Amid Lack of State Legislation

The City of Cayce’s move is critical, considering the state of South Carolina is one of only two states in the U.S without hate crime legislation. “State lawmakers need to consider passing this type of legislation because while cities and towns are doing their job on a local level — the state needs to do so as well,” said, Thomas.

“With this ordinance, it just lets people know that hey, if you live in Cayce, you can be who you are and not have any fear that anyone out there will intimidate you or scare you to be the person that you are,” expressed councilman Thomas.

Protecting the Vulnerable

This ordinance passage sends a powerful message to all residents of Cayce and the State of South Carolina – that every individual should feel safe and protected, irrespective of their background or identity.