SCPIF conducts educational and other activities, consisting principally of the initiation, prosecution and funding of litigation aimed at preserving and enhancing good government in South Carolina. It seeks to ensure that state agencies, governmental entities and public officials at all levels act in strict compliance with the state Constitution and statutes, and that in all cases the expenditure of public funds is conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
SCPIF seeks judicial review of actions such as: (i) violations of the state Constitution by governments or governmental entities (state, regional or local); (ii) unlawful governmental procurement practices; (iii) the purported enactment of laws or the promulgation of regulations contrary to law; and (iv) other governmental activities in contravention of applicable laws, such as the Freedom of Information Act. SCPIF uses litigation, rather than political persuasion, as its primary tool to achieve its objectives. It is the only entity in South Carolina which consistently uses this approach to constrain governmental impropriety and overreach.
SCPIF does not take a position on the wisdom of any specific law, individual legislator or government official; nor does it attempt either to aid or to hinder the passage of legislation. It is strictly non-partisan, seeking merely to force governments and their officers to comply with their legal duties.
To date SCPIF has been a plaintiff in over 100 lawsuits. It is willing and eager to apply to the appropriate court to remedy political malefactions, usually by petitioning for a declaratory judgment or writ of mandamus. When SCPIF is a plaintiff it bears all of the expenses of such litigation, and when it prevails it expects to obtain reimbursement of its expenses from the losing party. It uses all such reimbursements for its corporate purposes, principally the financing of future litigation. In appropriate cases it can also sponsor or subsidize qualified litigation to which it is not directly a party.