Judiciary panel advances sentencing reform plan

COLUMBIA -- A comprehensive plan to divert nonviolent criminals from prisons to the probation and parole system so South Carolina can avoid spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build new prisons was adopted Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 14-0 vote.

The bill calls for more drug users to serve supervised criminal sentences in the community as a way to free up beds in the overcrowded prisons. The measure, as written, deals with future offenders, although there are a few exceptions to parole some current prisoners.

Sen. Gerald Malloy, a Hartsville Democrat who led research and debate on the proposals for more than a year, said the legislation is not "soft on crime" but "smart." For instance, he said that it costs $14,500 for each inmate in prison compared with

$2,000 for an individual in an intense community supervision program.

"We're talking about a tremendous amount of savings," Malloy said. "And the ability to keep South Carolina safe was not compromised. ... We think this is landmark legislation."

The bill reclassifies 22 crimes as violent, including drunken driving that results in death. That change will trigger a rule that does not allow the violent offenders to qualify for parole until they serve 85 percent of their sentences. The bill also provides incentives such as "good time credits" for people on probation and parole to stay crime- and drug-free, gives judges more discretion for sentencing drug users, lets more inmates qualify for work-release and removes the disparity in sentencing between crack and cocaine possession.

Additionally, the bill would allow for the special parole of inmates who are terminally ill, geriatric or physically disabled and no longer pose a public risk. Some legislators raised the possibility of the early release of up to 3,000 nonviolent criminals as a way to save the cash-strapped state money, but the Judiciary Committee did not make those proposals part of the legislation.

Most of the provisions in the bill would become effective in January, if the bill survives the legislative process. The bill also establishes an oversight committee made up of legislators and members of the public to study the results of the law.

Solicitors, public defenders, victim advocates, national researchers and Jon Ozmint, director of the Department of Corrections, were among the experts that helped legislators draft the bill.

Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, acknowledged that the legislation might require an up-front investment in the probation and parole system to be sure that those criminals diverted from prisons received proper oversight, but that's a fight that will be battled out on the Senate floor. Other issues raised during the committee meeting include the increase in certain fines during hard economic times and a provision in the bill that would ban people who served time for a violent crime from ever owning a gun. Some senators are interested in banning only violent criminals who used a gun while committing a crime.

"I do think we need to change that," said Campsen, one of the Legislature's biggest sportsman.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.