First Amendment

C.J. Ciaramella | 10.10.2024 7:00 AM

A federal appeals court will soon decide if there is a First Amendment right to interview people in prison in the case of a South Carolina death row inmate with weeks left to live.

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina (ACLU-SC) is fighting a lawsuit on fast-tracked appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit seeking to overturn a state policy that bars it from recording and publishing a face-to-face interview with Marion Bowman, who is scheduled to be executed on November 29. Bowman was convicted of murder in 2001.

In its appeal, the ACLU-SC says it intends to publish interviews with Bowman to support his clemency petition. The group says it is not simply a matter of right of access—it already has access to phone and face-to-face interviews with Bowman—but that the interview ban infringes on its First Amendment right to publicly advocate for its........

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