South Carolina's “Mica's Law” on coercive control

According to the bill text, S. 702 would have made it a crime to engage in coercive control over a member of one's own household (S. 702). The bill defined coercive control as “a pattern of behavior that in purpose or effect unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty.”

It would have counted people who are or were in a dating relationship as household members under the domestic violence law.

It would have added harassment, stalking and coercive control to the definitions of abuse in the protective-order law. It would also have made domestic violence or domestic abuse against a spouse or minor child a ground for divorce if it happened within 12 months before filing or while the case is pending.

In custody cases, it would have listed whether a parent has committed domestic violence, stalking or harassment among the factors a court weighs in deciding a child's best interests.

The bill's examples of coercive control included isolating a person from friends, relatives or other support, monitoring their communications, movements and finances, frequent name-calling, and reproductive coercion (S. 702). The bill page doesn't show the penalty for the new crime. An earlier version, S. 588, would have made coercive control a felony punishable by up to 10 years (S. 588).

The bill is known as “Mica's Law” for Mica Miller, a South Carolina woman who died in April 2024. The Robeson County Sheriff's Office announced in May 2024 that her death had been ruled a suicide (WMBF). Her husband, John Paul Miller, has never been charged in her death. He faces separate federal charges of cyberstalking her and making false statements to federal investigators, and he has pleaded not guilty (U.S. Attorney's Office; court docket). His trial is set for the January 2027 term (WPDE). The bill is not part of his case.

At an April 15, 2026, hearing, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee heard testimony on the bill and carried it over. Mica Miller's sister spoke to the committee. “This bill has the ability to save an incalculable amount of individuals,” she said (WMBF).

The bill went no further. Goldfinch said redistricting “sucked all the oxygen out of the room” (WRDW). In June, he said, “My plan is definitely to reintroduce it in January. It's something that absolutely needs to be done” (WMBF).