- Associated Press - Wednesday, March 6, 2019

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A group of House lawmakers made sweeping changes Wednesday to a prison-sentence-reform bill in South Carolina, saying they heard the concerns of victims, their families, law enforcement and victim’s advocates that the proposal was too soft on crime and would make victims have to confront their attackers again.

The House Criminal Laws subcommittee agreed to remove several parts of the bill , including one provision that would have allowed an inmate to ask a judge for a reduced sentence after serving 15 years, no matter how long the original sentence.

“Obviously, I spoke to circuit court judges, and folks I spoke to did not like the provision,” said subcommittee chairman Chris Murphy.

Lawmakers also changed the bill to allow early release and community supervision for inmates convicted of drug-related offenses that aren’t eligible for parole after the prisoners have completed 65 percent of their sentence without any disciplinary problems.

“This was the provision that received the majority of concerns in testimony,” said Murphy, a Republican lawyer from North Charleston.

Murphy and other lawmakers said the reduction in sentence is meant to apply only to drug offenses, not crimes with victims.

But some members of law enforcement said the revised bill still fails to make that distinction clearly.

“What’s a victim crime? What’s a victimless crime?” asked 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette. “There are people who die from drug overdoses. You potentially have a victim there. I want to make sure that distinction is made.”

The prosecutor from Spartanburg and Cherokee counties said he also is concerned that violent offenses are being looped into the legislation, and that to keep their attackers in prison, victims would have to testify against them again, years after suffering the pain of the crime. He said lawmakers and supporters need to make sure the legislation matches up with their intent.

“I want the victim protected no matter what,” Barnette said. “I think we owe that to them.”

Lawmakers also removed the mandatory-minimum-sentence provision in its entirety for several offenses, including use of a deadly weapon in the commission of manslaughter or murder.

Republican Rep. Eddie Tallon was the only lawmaker to vote against sending the bill to the full House Judiciary Committee. The Republican from Spartanburg, a former State Law Enforcement Division agent, said he thinks lawmakers need more time to consider the massive changes.

“My concern is that this is such a large bill, and it’s been rushed through,” the Spartanburg lawmaker said. “We’ve had a lot of testimony and we need to be able to soak that in and get it right.”

Murphy expects the full committee to take up the bill on March 19.

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