Criminal study due out today

COLUMBIA -- The results of a long-term study into alternative sentencing due out today is expected to help legislators grappling with violence in the community and a major budget crunch.

The state was put on guard again after Brandon J. Simmons allegedly shot Charleston County Deputy Jeffrey DeGrow multiple times on Jan. 21, stirring up continuing concern about South Carolina's heavily strained probation and parole agency.

The Post and Courier first revealed the difficulties at the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services in the five-part series "Law and Disorder," published in August 2008. The series found that criminals out on probation or parole terrorize the community as the system intended to watch over them continues to be overwhelmed.

The agency's troubles are ongoing. It lost 101 agents in the past two years due to dramatically falling state tax collections. More cuts could be on the way.

Rep. Annette Young, R-Summerville, and one of the Legislature's lead budget writers, said the release of the South Carolina Sentencing Reform Commission's final report should present lawmakers with tangible solutions.

The Sentencing Reform Commission was created by the Legislature in 2008 to study alternative sentencing for nonviolent offenders as a way to free up space within the prisons and review the parole system for improvements.

Putting more money in the criminal justice system isn't a possibility right now, nor is raising taxes to come up with new revenue, Young said.

"The dollars just aren't there," she said.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the effort to protect the public begins with keeping violent criminals in jail.

"There ought to be less people getting out on parole because no matter how many resources you put toward keeping up with them, if they want to do bad things, they are going to," Harrell said.

Harrell said he is frustrated by the "roadblocks" he and others have faced when trying to pass a variety of bills to strengthen criminal laws. Progress has been slowed by a combination of people who are legitimately concerned about rights being trampled and other people who use that argument as a way to keep the laws lax, he said.

"The whole goal needs to be focused on getting bad people who will hurt people away from good citizens," Harrell said. He said he anxiously awaits the commission's recommendations.