CHARLESTON, S.C. – Disability Rights SC, formerly the Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, has settled a years-long civil lawsuit aimed at improving conditions for teens and children at the Charleston County Juvenile Detention Center (CCJDC). Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough represented Disability Rights SC pro bono in this matter which came to light in March 2020 after an investigative piece was published by the Post and Courier.

On Dec. 10, 2025, Charleston Federal Court Judge David C. Norton signed the consent decree, resolving the civil-rights claims. Without admitting liability, CCJDC, Charleston County School District (CCSD), and the Charleston County Sheriff agree to implement a comprehensive set of reforms to ensure safe, lawful, trauma-sensitive, and disability-compliant treatment of detained youth.

The decree includes detailed standards which must be maintained across classification, intake, medical and mental health care, suicide prevention, education, programming, behavior management, training, use of force, restraints, room confinement, disability accommodations, grievances, and monitoring.

A Professional Monitor will oversee compliance, conduct inspections, and file annual reports. The agreement remains in effect for three years, with early termination only if CCJDC reaches substantial compliance for 12 consecutive months.

The legal team representing Disability Rights SC is led by Nelson Mullins partner Robert Brunson; former Nelson Mullins partner Stuart Andrews (now with Burnette Shutt & McDaniel); former Charleston County Assistant Public Defender Annie Andrews, who now has a solo private practice; and Nelson Mullins senior paralegal Lauren Lynch.

“We brought this case in 2020 when we learned about the inhumane conditions at the detention center, and a lot of hard work has gone into negotiating the terms of this consent order by all parties involved. We are very pleased now to have a Monitor in place to track progress towards the goals set forth in the consent order,” said Brunson.

The original complaint filed on July 25, 2020 named Charleston County Sheriff J. Al Cannon, Jr., Assistant Sheriff Mitch Lucas, Chief Deputy Willis Beatty, and the Charleston County School District as the responsible parties for the "medieval" conditions of the facility and its "deliberate indifference toward an allegedly inhumane environment." The case was moved into mediation within months and Magistrate Judge Mary Gordon Baker served as the mediator.

Nelson Mullins interviewed over 45 children and families of children who had been detained in the facility in recent years. Those interviews yielded horrific stories of children being restricted to solitary confinement for extended periods, use of a “restraint chair” for hours at a time to subdue and punish children, and deprivation of meaningful healthcare, including prescribed medications. Children and families interviewed by Nelson Mullins alleged that in some cases, youth would be confined for lengthy periods in a small, windowless room with no bed or toilet—this room was known as the “wet cell.” Children also reported and the lawsuit alleges use of excessive force against youth in detention, including firing of rubber bullets and bean bags, administration of pepper spray, and use of tasers.

The lawsuit brought attention to systemic problems and sparked a series of events.  

Weeks after the complaint was filed, the CCJDC moved its juvenile detainees into the nearby Al Cannon Detention Center. They were housed on a separate floor from the adult inmates and placed in a less restrictive setting with more open space. While the move was a step in the right direction, the underlying conditions at the aging CCJDC remained a concern.

In September 2020, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice weighed in by filing a Statement of Interest of the United States of America, in which it condemned punitive and excessive isolation of youth as unconstitutional. The Department of Justice went on to advise that “the United States has investigated and worked with jurisdictions to remedy isolation practices similar to those alleged in this action, concluding that “young people are afforded due process protections from punitive isolation. Practices and policies that subject them to prolonged and excessive isolation deprive them of that right.”

Then in 2021, after nearly a decade of consideration by County Council, Charleston County broke ground on a new $14 million facility located near the county jail. The old juvenile detention center, built in 1967, was in a state of disrepair and demolished.

The lawsuit spanned three different Charleston County Sheriff administrations, including Cannon, Kristin Graziano, and Sheriff Carl Ritchie. Sheriff Ritchie, who defeated Graziano in November 2024 and took office on Jan. 7, 2025, evaluated and acknowledged the consent decree to help resolve the litigation.

“While conditions have improved significantly since we filed this lawsuit—especially with a move into the new building, improved programming for the kids, and revisions to many inadequate policies—this order will ensure that these changes will last and that other improvements required in the order are made over the next few years,” Brunson said. “I am particularly grateful to my co-counsel Annie Andrews, who tenaciously fought to draw attention to these issues, and to the Post and Courier for its important news coverage.”

Established in 1897, Nelson Mullins is a full-service Am Law 100 firm of more than 1,000 attorneys, policy advisors, and professionals with offices across the United States. For more information, go to www.nelsonmullins.com.