Silverman v. Campbell

Silverman v. Campbell was a South Carolina Supreme Court case regarding the constitutionality of a provision in the South Carolina Constitution requiring an oath to God for employment in the public sector.

Silverman v. Campbell, et al.
Court	South Carolina Supreme Court
Full case name	Herb Silverman v. Carol A. Campbell, et al.
Argued	October 3, 1996 1996
Decided	May 27, 1997 1997
Citation	326 S.C. 208 (1997) 486 S.E.2d 1
Holding
The Court held that the Constitution of South Carolina articles requiring belief in a supreme being to be in violation of the First Amendment and the No Religious Test Clause of the U. S. Constitution[1]
Court membership
Chief judge	Ernest A. Finney, Jr.[2]
Associate judges	Jean Toal, James E. Moore, John H. Waller, E. C. Burnett, III
Case opinions
Majority	Finney
Concurrence	Toal, Moore, Waller, Burnett
Laws applied
Article VI, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution

Details

In 1992, Herb Silverman was a mathematics professor at the College of Charleston who applied to become a notary public. Silverman had earlier run for the post of Governor of South Carolina. Silverman declared himself an Atheist but also joined a Unitarian Church.^[3][4] His application was rejected after he crossed off the phrase "So help me God"^[5] from the oath, which was required by the South Carolina State Constitution.^[6] Silverman filed a lawsuit naming Governor Carroll Campbell and Secretary of State Jim Miles as defendants.^[7] After a lower court made a ruling in favor of Silverman, the state appealed to the Supreme Court contending that the case was not about religion.^[8]

The South Carolina Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision,^[2] ruled that Article VI, section 2 and Article XVII, section 4 of the South Carolina Constitution—both of which state, "No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution"^[1]—could not be enforced because they violated the First Amendment protection of free exercise of religion and the Article VI, section 3 of the United States Constitution banning the use of a religious test for public office.^[9] Current precedent holds that these provisions are binding on the states under the 14th Amendment.^{[citation needed]}

Herb Silverman in 2018. President Emeritus of the Secular Coalition for America, and a former board member of the American Humanist Association.

See also

• Torcaso v. Watkins (a similar case in Maryland)
• Secular Coalition for America, an atheist advocacy group founded by Silverman