Why did the South Carolina Department of Education hire a private attorney to push through the book ban?

A new regulation went into effect Tuesday that strips local school districts in South Carolina of the authority to decide which books end up on school shelves.

Supporters of a new rule that empowers the Board of Education to determine whether books and course materials contain “sexual conduct” and should be banned statewide say it streamlines an unequal system. Critics accused him of laying the groundwork for stricter book bans.

A key role in the Education Department’s actions was played by an influential lawyer with ties to conservative legal groups who was paid more than $40,000 for work that included explaining the rule changes to lawmakers who allowed the bill to become law without a vote on it.

Miles Coleman, an attorney at the prominent law firm of Nelson Mullins and president of the Columbia chapter of the Federalist Society, a conservative national legal group, was hired by the Department of Education to represent it in connection with the new regulation.

Coleman, whom the Education Department has described as a nationally recognized expert in First Amendment law, was hired at a rate of $225 an hour, according to an application for outside counsel that state Supervisor Ellen Weaver filed with the attorney general’s office.

The application noted that Coleman was hired for “legal representation and potential litigation related to the promulgation of regulations regarding library materials.”

Nelson Mullins ultimately received $41,855 for her work, according to the Department of Education. Another Nelson Mullins attorney is representing The State Media Co. in a lawsuit that alleges the Lexington Richland 5 school district violated state open meetings law.

“Protecting the minds of South Carolina students from sexually explicit material in our schools is worth every penny,” department spokesman Jason Raven wrote in an email to The State.

But critics saw the decision to hire outside counsel as evidence of Weaver’s intentions. “Superintendent Weaver has shown the lengths she will go to impose her beliefs on teachers, librarians, students and parents,” said Paul Bowers, communications director for the ACLU of South Carolina, when asked about Coleman’s role in the new law.

Coleman, a partner at Nelson Mullins in Greenville, also specializes in appellate litigation, commercial litigation and complex civil and criminal litigation, according to his biography. Among other things, he represented the Pickens County School District in a lawsuit brought by the NAACP regarding the district’s decision to ban the book “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. He also represented Christian Learning Centers of Greenville, a private religious education facility, in their fight to obtain a $1.5 million donation from the state.

A 2009 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, Coleman has been heavily involved in conservative organizations. In addition to serving on the executive committee of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberty Practice Group, Coleman was a member of National Review and currently serves as board secretary for School Ministries, an organization that provides support for public school students to get off campus during school hours to study the Bible.

While in law school, Coleman also received a Blackstone Legal Fellowship in 2007. The fellowship is a summer legal training program run by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal advocacy group that has been designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

ADF vehemently denies this characterization and describes itself as a leading Christian law firm “committed to protecting religious liberty, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.”

“Mr. Coleman is a nationally recognized First Amendment expert whose work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Coleman was retained by SCDE in connection with the State Board of Education’s instructional materials regulation to help ensure the protection of students’ and teachers’ First Amendment rights,” Raven said.

Although the Department of Education has a general counsel, it is not unusual for state agencies to work with outside counsel when specialized expertise is needed, Raven told The State.

Coleman also appeared to play a leading role in bringing the new rule to lawmakers. In April, Coleman appeared at least twice before lawmakers to explain the need for the new rule, saying it was intended to fix “a patchwork of 80 or more different policies,” according to the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

He also defended a broad ban on “sexual content” in library books and school materials. Coleman told lawmakers that by keeping the definition broad, the Education Department was trying to avoid lengthy debates about what did or did not meet the standards, according to the Daily Gazette.

“It’s simple enough that it won’t get stuck,” he told lawmakers.

Coleman did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

The rule, which passed through the education subcommittee, went into effect on June 25, although it was never voted on by the full General Assembly. South Carolina law allows proposed regulations to automatically become law if they are not put to a vote within 120 days.

The original application called for Coleman to work from October 31, 2023 to June 30, 2024, with a maximum salary of $25,000. On April 15, this proposal was amended to raise the maximum bid to $50,000.

Defending the costs, Raven, the Department of Education spokesman, noted that the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office approves the hourly rates that state agencies pay outside legal counsel. Raven added that Coleman’s fee was less than half what a lawyer typically charged.

Coleman earned a bachelor’s degree from Bob Jones University, a conservative, private Christian university in Greenville. Weaver earned a master’s degree in education from Bob Jones when she applied for the superintendent position.