(Jack Scott pictured above)

Attorneys representing the Dillon County Board of Education have involved themselves in the current primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for S.C. House District 55.

White and Story, LLC sent a letter to candidate and current Dillon County Council member Jack Scott requesting Scott remove some posts from “your social media site relating to your political campaign.”

The attorneys requested Scott remove posts allegedly containing “misleading communications” and “patently false information” and “cease and desist from making any other defamatory statements.”

The four-page letter goes on to address specific lines in various posts on Scott’s website with additional exhibits of the full posts included with the communication. (Click on the link below to view the letter and exhibits).

What is particularly interesting is the areas of emphasis, according to lawyer bios on the firm’s website, are: providing advice and counsel on issues relating to personnel matters, student discipline, the education of students with special needs, policy development, board/executive officer relations and tort issues.

The issues addressed in the letter, however, deal with free speech protections of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The letter appears to specifically take issue with core political speech, the form of speech elevated above all others in protections against its restriction, according to numerous U.S. Supreme Court decisions over the years.

The letter cherry picks sentences or phrases from larger texts to demonstrate what the attorneys allege are “misleading” or “patently false” statements. However, when viewed within the context of the larger posts in which they are contained, the statements objected to seem to be well within the general form of core political speech practiced by the vast majority of politicians today and quite tame compared to what spews forth from the White House on a weekly basis via Twitter.