Supreme Court Published Opinions -
April 2019
Note: Beginning in June 2012, opinions will be posted as Adobe PDFs. You can download a free copy of Adobe Reader here.
The summary following each opinion is prepared to offer lawyers and the public a general overview of what a particular opinion decides. The summary is not necessarily a full description of the issues discussed in an opinion.
4-3-2019 - Opinions
We find the workers' compensation commission's repeated, unwarranted delays in making a final decision requires our immediate review of an interlocutory remand order to avoid leaving the appellant with no adequate remedy on an appeal from a final decision. We reverse the appellate panel's remand order, and remand to the commission for an immediate and final review of the original commissioner's decision.
We granted certiorari to determine whether a family court order finding a common-law marriage was immediately appealable under our general appealability statute, S.C. Code Ann. ยง 14-3-330. Because the order involved the merits of the causes of action, we hold it was appealable and reverse the court of appeals.
In the Court's original jurisdiction, petitioner Conrad Slocumb argues his 130-year sentence, imposed as a result of multiple sets of nonhomicide crimes committed when he was a juvenile, violates the principles set forth in Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010). Because Graham's express holding is limited to de jure life sentences, and not de facto life sentences like Slocumb's, the Court is constrained to deny Slocumb relief.
We granted Demario Thompson's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Court of Appeals in State v. Thompson, 420 S.C. 386, 803 S.E.2d 44 (Ct. App. 2017). We now dismiss the writ as improvidently granted.4-10-2019 - Opinions
This Court granted petitions for a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Court of Appeals in Wilson v. Willis, 416 S.C. 295, 786 S.E.2d 571 (Ct. App. 2016), in which the parties dispute the applicability of an arbitration clause. The circuit court denied the motion to compel arbitration. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, holding equitable estoppel should be applied to enforce arbitration against the nonsignatories. We now reverse and remand for further proceedings, finding the circuit court properly denied the motion to compel arbitration.4-24-2019 - Opinions