FIX S.C. SENTENCING RULES

State legislators who must spend much of their time this session
patching painful employment security and budget issues, have been
presented with a bill aimed at doing much more than fixing mistakes.

The Omnibus Crime Reduction and Sentencing Reform Act could ultimately
save the state money and heartache by classifying more criminal
offenses as violent; giving some nonviolent offenders probation
instead of prison time; and giving probation and parole officers more
help.

Proponents are hopeful that the bill, which offers 24 recommendations,
will be considered as a whole. They say that is how it would be most
effective.

It is important for legislators and citizens to see the
recommendations not as being soft on crime. "It's about being smart on
crime," according to Eric Sevigny, a criminal justice expert at the
University of South Carolina who reviewed the bill.

Being smart is something the Legislature needs to do now more than
ever.

From a purely financial standpoint, the system of sentencing criminals
needs to change. Without change, prison cells will continue to be
filled with non-violent offenders who could instead be dealt with
while on probation. Moving them would leave more space for those
criminals who really need to be locked up.

According to the commission that worked on the bill, it could save
more than $92 million over the next five years. It could also
eliminate the need for new prisons. Even with startup costs to enhance
probation and parole services, the bill sounds smart.

One of government's primary responsibilities is to provide for the
safety of its citizens. Locking up the bad guys is one way to do that.
But it shouldn't be the only way.

According to the Sentencing Project of the Justice Policy Institute,
the United States, in 2000, became the country with the highest
incarceration rate in the world with more than 2 million in prison.

The average cost per inmate per year is some $30,000. Meanwhile,
nationally, 60 percent of growth in the federal prison population over
the last 20 years has been due to drug offenses.

Rehabilitating drug offenders, and spending less money to do so, is a
more sensible solution than building new prisons and paying to keep
them there.

South Carolina has more than its share of problems to be addressed by
the Legislature this session. The Omnibus Crime Reducation and
Sentencing Reform Act should not get lost in the shuffle.