Public Disclaimer

This is the McNeil & Poyer perspective. We make no legal conclusions.

Everything presented here describes our experience, what we've documented, and how we understand the events that unfolded during our tenancy at 181 Gordon Street and after. We've tried to be accurate and complete in our account.

It will be a jury, not us, who will decide what actually happened, what the law requires, and what accountability there will be.

Our interpretation of the evidence, the law, and the defendants' intent is ours alone. The defendants have their own version, their own interpretations, and their own legal defenses.

We encourage everyone to read the complete court filings, not just our summary here. The other side will have their say. A fair court process means both sides present evidence and arguments, and neutral decision-makers - ultimately a jury of our peers - decide.

This case is about:

  • Principle: the balance of power between property managers who wield enormous control over people's shelter and the families they serve.
  • It's about accountability when that power is misused.*
  • And it's about our story: a couple and their 15-year old Blind Carolina Dog, Rocket, who all suffered when they were uprooted from their home then fought the system for justice. We are fighting big-firm lawyers without own own lawyer. Just like the most vulnerable tenants would have to do.
*What specific accountability is appropriate, what damages are just, and who bears responsibility is for the court and a jury to decide, not us.

We're sharing this because the most vulnerable among us deserve the dignity of secure shelter, fair treatment, and access to justice when things go wrong.

We feel adding transparency to this system and examining the thinking behind it from multiple perspectives - property owners, property managers, tenants, regulators, press, and the public - can point to solutions that help all of those perspectives with a system that works better, especially in protecting the vulnerable in a housing crisis like we are experiencing now in Charleston, SC.

  1. This is our case.
  2. It's also a story about a system worth examining.

Both things can be true.