Silverman v. Campbell, et al. | |
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Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
Full case name | Herb Silverman v. Carol A. Campbell, et al. |
Argued | October 3, 1996 1996 |
Decided | May 27, 1997 1997 |
Citation(s) | 326 S.C. 208 (1997) 486 S.E.2d 1 [1] |
Holding | |
The Court held that the Constitution of South Carolina articles requiring belief in a supreme being to be in violation of the First Amendment and the No Religious Test Clause of the U. S. Constitution [1] | |
Court membership | |
Chief judge | Ernest A. Finney, Jr. [2] |
Associate judges | Jean Toal, James E. Moore, John H. Waller, E. C. Burnett, III |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Finney |
Concurrence | Toal, Moore, Waller, Burnett |
Laws applied | |
Article VI, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution |
Silverman v. Campbell was a South Carolina Supreme Court case regarding the constitutionality of a provision in the South Carolina Constitution requiring an oath to God for employment in the public sector.
In 1992, Herb Silverman was a mathematics professor at the College of Charleston who applied to become a notary public. Silverman had earlier run for the post of Governor of South Carolina. Silverman declared himself an Atheist but also joined a Unitarian Church. [3] [4] His application was rejected after he crossed off the phrase " So help me God" [5] from the oath, which was required by the South Carolina State Constitution. [6] Silverman filed a lawsuit naming Governor Carroll Campbell and Secretary of State Jim Miles as defendants. [7] After a lower court made a ruling in favor of Silverman, the state appealed to the Supreme Court contending that the case was not about religion. [8]
The South Carolina Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, [2] ruled that Article VI, section 2 and Article XVII, section 4 of the South Carolina Constitution—both of which state, "No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution" [1]—could not be enforced because they violated the First Amendment protection of free exercise of religion and the Article VI, section 3 of the United States Constitution banning the use of a religious test for public office. [9] Current precedent holds that these provisions are binding on the states under the 14th Amendment.[ citation needed]
silverman v. campbell south carolina supreme court.