Ex-Hilton Head leader dropped libel claim, but Hoagland still handed $7K tab. Here’s why
Skip Hoagland’s emails appear to have landed him on trash pickup duty.
The longtime government critic, known for his long-winded emails and rants during public comment periods, was found in both criminal and civil contempt by a Beaufort County judge, fined and sentenced to community service.
Circuit Judge R. Lawton McIntosh, who had initially found Hoagland in contempt in 2018, wrote on Tuesday that Hoagland’s violations were “numerous and flagrant” — he’d sent multiple emails after he’d been ordered not to speak about a court case.
Hoagland was sentenced on Tuesday. He could have been ordered to spend up to 30 days in jail, but instead must complete 100 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 fine for his conviction. For the civil violation, he must pay Likins’ attorney fees, which amount to $6,103.
To complete his community service, Hoagland must volunteer at a nonprofit. Or he can pick up litter, according to the Beaufort County Clerk of Court.
The gag order was issued in a 2015 libel case brought by former Hilton Head Island Town Council member Kim Likins, who said he called her boss at the Boys & Girls Club and told its leaders there she was unfit to be working around children. He disagreed with a series of her decisions on the Town Council.
The case, which went to trial in March, ended abruptly when Likins received a settlement in a related case against Hoagland’s insurance company and dropped her libel charges.
But Hoagland wasn’t absolved.
Likins’ lawyers submitted emails Hoagland sent about the case to third parties and their legal team, showing how Hoagland violated the gag order.
On Tuesday, the judge found Hoagland in civil and criminal contempt of court for the emails, and must start the community services within the next month, the court said.
The decision marks a dramatic turn in a case that was otherwise decided when Likins dropped the charges. Hoagland has lambasted Likins and her lawyers in emails sent to over a dozen people on an email list.
A permanent injunction, or restraining order, sought by Likins against Hoagland was denied Tuesday in the sentencing.
The court decided the injunction should not be issued because Likins has an adequate remedy — the right to sue Hoagland — if he continues to harass her. An injunction, the judge wrote, “may violate Hoagland’s First Amendment right to free speech.”
