Pregnant SC mother & activist who got a 4-year prison sentence for protesting is set free
Despite peacefully exercising her right to free speech during a protest, a Black activist, chef and expecting mother was convicted under an obscure law and sentenced to four years in prison.
Now free, and backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, Brittany Martin says she’s committed to reversing her conviction and exposing the level of abuse she’s suffered as a “political prisoner” while incarcerated.
“I was treated worse than a murderer and a rapist, due to me being an activist,” Martin told The State. “Being a political prisoner places the worst target on your back as far as correctional officers are concerned.”
In May 2020, Martin joined a throng of people across the Palmetto State — and around the nation — in protesting the death of George Floyd, who was murdered by police. Although she says she remained nonviolent during her protests in Sumter, SC, Martin was arrested and tried on a slew of charges, including one count of inciting a riot, five counts of threatening the life of a public official and breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature (BOPHAN), according to court records.
Two years later and three months pregnant, Martin went to trial, where a jury acquitted her of inciting a riot. They failed to reach a verdict on the five counts she faced of threatening the life of a public official, but found her guilty of breaching the peace in a high and aggravated nature, a common law crime the ACLU argues is arbitrary, vague and, therefore, unconstitutional.
Immediately following her trial, Martin was sentenced to four years in prison by Circuit Judge Kirk Griffin.
“Due process requires that all laws — particularly criminal laws that implicate free speech — be clearly defined so as to provide fair notice and to guard against arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement,” an ACLU appeal on behalf of Martin read. “BOPHAN, by contrast, is a common law offense that has been described by the South Carolina Supreme Court as ‘encompass[ing] a broad range of conduct’ and ‘defy[ing] strict definition.’”
Indeed, the South Carolina Supreme Court case cited by the ACLU (‘State v. Simms’) signals “discriminatory enforcement.” In Simms, a man was convicted under BOPHAN after violently attacking another man and causing his death, following a University of South Carolina football game, and was sentenced to only three years in prison.
“Such a law cannot pass constitutional muster. Because no one, and particularly not a protester like Brittany Martin, can discern when their conduct morphs from protected to criminal,” the appeal said.
A case far from common
Martin’s case is far from common, according to Meredith McPhail, a staff attorney for the ACLU of South Carolina, who has appealed to the South Carolina Supreme Court to overturn Martin’s conviction.
“Continuing to challenge Ms. Martin’s conviction and sentence is critical not only to clear Ms. Martin’s name and record, but also to uphold the principles of the First Amendment that protect all South Carolinians,” McPhail said in a news release.
While on trial, Martin said she wasn’t physically and mentally capable to stand the proceeding, as she was not only pregnant but also had recently lost her 18-year-old son to gun violence in January 2022.
“I was pregnant with my daughter, and I had just lost my oldest child, Courtney Harris, who had been murdered,” Martin said. “So, during the whole trial, I kept having to leave out, just to go and puke. I literally was not physically and mentally capable to stand trial.”
While incarcerated in South Carolina, Martin gave birth to a baby girl she named Blessing — a name, she said, memorializes victory, despite the harsh treatment she experienced while behind bars.
“While I was pregnant with my child, my food was being tampered with,” Martin told The State. “They tried to under-feed me while I was carrying her, and that’s why I named her Blessing, because even through all of that, my baby made it.”
Martin also spoke of other abuses she suffered as an inmate, including a time where officers forcefully held her down to cut off her dreadlocks.
“I went through sexual assault and sexual harassment,” Martin said. “I went through verbal harassment every day, and I was held in solitary confinement for two years straight.”
After giving birth to her daughter, Martin was transferred to the Logan Correctional Center in Illinois under an interstate compact. While there, Martin said the governor of Illinois and the state’s attorney general pushed for her release.
Upon returning to South Carolina, Martin was housed at the Camille Graham Correctional Center for eight days before her release on Nov. 27.
Martin ultimately served two and half years of her four-year sentence.
Free speech results in prison time?
Martin contends that she spoke her mind during a peaceful protest and was sentenced to prison as a result.
Over the course of five days, Martin and others took to the streets of Sumter to protest Floyd’s murder.
It was what Martin said to Sumter officers on June 3, 2020 that landed her in jail.
Citing her right to peacefully assemble and protest, Martin challenged officers draped in riot gear, asking if they were “willing to die for the blue.”
“I told them, ‘Are you willing to die for the blue? Because I’m willing to die for the Black,’” Martin said. “They tried to utilize that statement as a threat, but in reality, I was saying, ‘How far are you willing to go for your cause? Because this is how far I’m willing to go for my cause.’”
Martin said she will continue to fight against the injustices she said she experienced for simply exercising her right to free speech.
Now back in South Carolina, Martin said she and her family have been blocked from returning to Illinois, where they’ve established a new life following her transfer to the state in late 2022.
“Now they’re saying I can’t leave South Carolina for six months as I’m on supervised re-entry,” Martin said. “I’m like, ‘Wait, what about my home, my kids’ schooling and my husband’s work?’ I can’t even get a traveler’s permit to return home.”
Traveler’s permits are typically granted to people on probation or parole who need to leave the state to handle business affairs, Martin said.
Undeterred, Martin said she’s now focused on highlighting the corruption she’s endured so that no one else will have to experience what she’s gone through.
“The corruption of these elites is real and they’re big, but our God is bigger,” Martin said. “To the people, I say, ‘Stand up for what you believe.’ As long as we keep laying down and allowing this stuff to happen and not fight, they’ll continue to do this. If I don’t continue and fight against this injustice, they can do this to many more people. It stops with me.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Pregnant SC mother & activist who got a 4-year prison sentence for protesting is set free."
