Class Action Alleges South Carolina Commercial Vehicle Fine System ‘Penalizes’ Those Unable to Pay or Requesting Trial

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A proposed class action alleges the South Carolina State Transport Police’s two-pronged system of fines for commercial vehicles cited for any manner of law violations unconstitutionally penalizes those who are unable to pay within a certain amount of time, including those who request a jury trial and plead not guilty, and is wrongfully revenue-driven. 

The 12-page case relays that the State Transport Police, a division of the South Carolina Division of Public Safety, is responsible for inspecting commercial vehicles with regard to weight, maintenance issues and driving violations. Per the lawsuit, the STP, as part of its standard practice, routinely issues fines to the drivers of commercial vehicles found in violation of the law. 

The suit says that if a commercial vehicle fine is paid within 28 calendar days of its issuance, the amount to be paid by the alleged violator is the amount that’s designated on the citation. The plaintiffs’ case centers on the fact that a fine paid more than 28 days after its issuance “essentially doubles,” which, according to the suit, effectively penalizes those who are unable to pay within the stated amount of time. This group also includes those who choose to exercise their constitutional right to request a jury trial over an alleged violation and plead not guilty, the complaint stresses. 

According to the lawsuit, by conditioning the lesser fine on, in essence, an individual waiving their right to a jury trial and pleading guilty to a citation, the State Transport Police “needlessly chills the exercise of basic constitutional rights.” As a result, the plaintiffs contend, any commercial vehicle driver alleged to have committed a violation faces the difficult decision of whether to give up their rights to a trial by jury and to plead not guilty to avoid the possibility of paying double the stated fine. 

The lawsuit says the State Transport Police’s use of South Carolina law in issuing commercial vehicle fines results in a “direct financial benefit” to the agency in that all fines are directly payable to the State Transport Police. The plaintiffs argue that South Carolina’s commercial vehicle fine “scheme” stands in contrast to how fines from uniform traffic tickets are handled, as the money paid for such goes to either the county treasurer or municipality treasurer, according to the case. 

Per the lawsuit, the aforementioned distinction is noteworthy in that “the whole ticketing process of the Defendant is distorted by the prospect of institutional gain in that the more revenues it raises, the more revenues it can spend.”

“The United States Supreme Court has recognized such statutory schemes to be invalid because of the financial benefit directly to a particular judicial officer or agency,” the lawsuit says. “As a result, Plaintiff [sic] has been damaged financially and by the potential forfeiture of an important constitutional right.” 

The lawsuit looks to represent all alleged violators of South Carolina statutory law and/or the Department of Public Service Regulations who have been cited by the State Transport Police with the two-pronged fine options under S.C. Code 56-5-4160. 

The lawsuit, initially filed in the Spartanburg County Court of Common Pleas on August 3, was removed to South Carolina District Court, Spartanburg Division, on August 30. 

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