Attorney General's statement on SC Supreme Court ruling on domestic violence law

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South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson released this statement in response to the state Supreme Court's ruling on whether same-sex couples are protected under the state's domestic violence law, specifically that the law is unfair to same-sex couples. "This office defended the constitutionality of South Carolina's domestic violence law. We agree with the approach taken by Chief Justice Beatty and Justice Few, which seeks to reconcile our state's domestic violence laws with U.S. Supreme Court precedent. While we respect the Court, the approach taken by two of its members makes it impossible for us to protect victims of dating violence under our current domestic violence laws. Instead of extending the protections of South Carolina's domestic violence laws to a larger group of couples, the effect of this decision will limit those protections to a much smaller group of people. Under this current ruling, the only people we can now protect are spouses, former spouses and people who have a child in common. This office will seek reconsideration of the ruling."