Southern Charm Alums Kathryn Dennis & Thomas Ravenel’s Court War Reaches S.C. Supreme Court

It says something about modern America that a custody battle between two reality TV stars has reached the South Carolina Supreme Court. The question isn't who gets the kids. It's whether the public gets to read the sealed records of how those kids are being raised. That's a strange thing to ask a state's highest court, and an even stranger thing to want.

These two have spent years volunteering their lives to the cameras on Southern Charm. That doesn't mean their children signed up for it. There's a difference between choosing fame and having your childhood dissected by commenters on the internet. Kids don't get a say in their parents' decisions, and they shouldn't have to pay for them in open court. Whatever we think of Dennis or Ravenel individually, the instinct to keep family matters private is the right one.

We hope the court does the simple, decent thing here. Sealed should mean sealed. And if the entertainment press wants to know what's in those files, they can buy a ticket to the next reunion show. The rest of us can remember that some things are worth protecting even when the people involved are famous. Especially when the people who'd be hurt most are just children.

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