South Carolina Sentencing Reform Commission
Given enough time, any pendulum, even the long arm of the law, will swing in the opposite direction. That’s what is happening in South Carolina, where the state Sentencing Reform Commission has been working to reduce or erase prison time for convictions that had been heretofore considered serious.In the ’60s, simple possession of a single marijuana cigarette in some states could result in several years in jail.
In the ’80s, when crack cocaine exploded onto the drug scene and fueled a crime wave, federal and state governments set up draconian differences in punishments between traditional powder cocaine and the smoke-able rock.
Now, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that his department will not be using the federal Justice Department’s limited resources to pursue cases against “medical” marijuana sellers. And the top lawman in South Carolina, state Attorney General Henry McMaster, advocates a “middle” court system that diverts non-violent criminals, some first-time offenders and others from prison into a beefed-up probation system.
So, has South Carolina gone “soft on crime”?
Not by any means. What has been happening is a re-jiggering of the balance point between keeping society safe and the state’s fiscal bottom line. While there’s still a lot of work to be done on sentencing reform, components of a reform package next year could include:
- Creation of a middle court system for non-violent offenders.
- Compassionate release for seriously ill inmates.
- Broader use of longer probation, including the possible appearance before original sentencing judge before release.
To work toward that, a commission comprised of state representatives, senators, lawyers, judges, prison officials and others have been meeting for months to see how to lighten the load on non-violent drug offenders, the prison system and the state’s operating budget.
According to a February presentation given to the Sentencing Reform Commission by the state Department of Corrections, there are three major reasons for the increase in prison population.
First, drug offenders. Second, mandatory sentencing. Third, “truth in sentencing” laws, through which offenders cannot be paroled until they’ve served a minimum of 85 percent of their original sentence.
Corrections officials say that not only have more inmates been incarcerated in their facilities, but also that the inmates are staying longer.
“The prison system is now housing 10 times the number of drug law violators [than] incarcerated in 1980,” the February 2009 report said. The report also stated the proposed middle court system would greatly reduce the number of inmates, and that non-“truth in sentencing” criminals were significantly less likely to return to prison after release or parole.
To house an inmate in 2006, the state spent more than $13,000 a year. As of Oct. 15, S.C. Department of Corrections facilities were 99.8 percent full at 24,098 inmates, according to its web site.
The SCDC is the only state department consistently running a major, multi-million dollar annual budget deficit. With enhanced and mandatory sentencing, some fear that the department’s deficit could continue to grow unless something is done to stem crime or reduce the number of prisoners in the system.
A former vice cop, State Sen. Jake Knotts (R-Lexington) helped lock up people on drug possession and simple use charges that would draw a fine today.
“The balancing point has changed, has moved,” Knotts said, because of the enormous expense of housing an inmate and changing national sentiment on non-serious drug crimes.
Knotts, who is serving on the Sentencing Reform Commission, said some of the blame for overcrowding falls on his former colleagues, who have focused on arresting users and street-level dealers to bolster their arrest records and increase the amount of grant money their departments could receive. He said police and courts need to focus more on the major distributors.
But Knotts said drug crimes are not “victimless,” and that more needed to be done to protect society from them.
Rep. Murrell Smith (R-Sumter), a former public defender who also serves on the commission, said South Carolina is one of the latest in the country to address prison overcrowding and expense through a reexamination of its sentencing guidelines.
“The states you think of being more ‘hardcore’ about criminals — Mississippi, Alabama, Texas — have already gone through this process,” Smith said. “What we’re talking about here isn’t ‘theory’ or propaganda; it’s empirical data.”
Both Knotts and Smith said the Sentencing Reform Commission, with its members’ disparate points of view, has largely been able to reach consensus on what its recommendations are likely to be next year.
Crystal ball: The state is facing a financial crisis in its prison system, where too many inmates staying too long are costing too much money. But how will reducing sentencing, or releasing to treatment those who would normally have been incarcerated, play in the upcoming election year in one of the nation’s most politically conservative states? That remains to be seen.
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