SC House passes bill that would end required sentences for drug offenses. Here’s how
State House lawmakers voted Wednesday to change laws that critics say send people with drug abuse issues and first time offenders to prison as hardcore dealers.
The bill, H 3623, proposes to end “mandatory minimum” sentences and reduce the time people convicted of “no parole” drug offenses have to stay in prison. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it’s unlikely to be considered this year.
Current law requires people convicted of drug trafficking, the highest level of drug crime, to be sentenced to a minimum number of years in prison without the option for probation. The bill takes away those minimums and allows judges to sentence people to probation for trafficking.
Critics characterize South Carolina’s current laws as draconian, dated and out of line with federal and other states’ drug statutes. But some prosecutors, like Lexington County Solicitor Rick Hubbard, believe the bill will lead to more crime and more victims.
Last month, The State wrote about a woman, a mother of two who got caught up with an abusive, drug dealing boyfriend and was sentenced to a mandatory minimum seven years in prison after she was caught with drugs in her purse. Her family said the drugs did not belong to her and that someone else put them in there so she would take the blame. The first judge refused to sentence her to the mandatory minimum but also also couldn’t sentence her to probation because of current law. A second judge sentenced her, her lawyer said.
Georgia and North Carolina have ended mandatory minimum sentences and given judges sentencing discretion for certain drug offense. Other states, including Alabama, have enacted laws or are working on similar changes. Federal legislation signed into law by former President Donald Trump gave judges “safety valve” sentencing discretion for certain drug offenses much like the South Carolina bill would do.
Rep. Chris Murphy, R-Dorchester, the sponsor of the bill, said the new legislation pulls together suggestions submitted to an ad hoc committee on criminal justice reform and the bipartisan federal law that Trump signed. It also gets South Carolina law closer to other states.
“We tried to just bring ourselves in line,” he said.
As is in South Carolina, a person carrying ten grams of cocaine will be sent to prison for a mandatory minimum of three years, even if the person has no prior record and a judge feels probation and drug rehabilitation is a suitable sentence. Some drug sentencing minimums go up to 25 years.
The bill ends that mandatory minimum sentence for most drug offenses and allows judges to factor in any mitigating circumstances, like whether it’s a person’s first offense or if the person, instead of being a dealer, appears to have a drug abuse issue. Under the proposal, judges could sentence people convicted of drug trafficking to probation.
Mandatory minimums for other violent offenses, like murder, armed robbery, burglary or felony DUI, are not covered by the bill. Sentencing for those offenses are unchanged. The legislation only applies to drug sentences.
The bill “simply allows judges to do what they were elected to do — to determine one’s sentence in a fair and impartial manner,” said Rep. Seth Rose, D-Richland, a cosponsor of the bill. “People facing mandatory minimums of 25 years in our prison system on a state level drug charge is absolutely ridiculous — and a huge taxpayer expense for a nonviolent conviction.”
While the bill does not limit judges’ ability to sentence a person to prison for a drug conviction, it also does not require judges to sentence a person to prison.
“It’s the right thing to do and I’m proud to cosponsor this legislation with many of my colleagues,” Rose said.
The bill also increases the amount of drugs a person must possess to be charged with trafficking. Instead of 10 grams of cocaine, the weight is increased to 28 grams, which would make South Carolina more in line with other state laws. Other weights will be increased for marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs.
Weights for charging people with selling drugs are also increased. It would take 10 ounces of marijuana to be charged with possession with intent to sell, a lesser crime than trafficking, instead of one ounce. The amounts for other drugs also are increased.
Maximum sentences for possession with intent to selling are also lowered in the proposal.
The bill lowers the time a person convicted of “no parole” drug trafficking must remain in prison.
People convicted of “no parole” crimes now have to serve 85% of a sentence in prison before being released and supervised. The bill would change the time that people convicted of drug trafficking have to stay imprisoned to 65%..
Serving 65% of a sentence would be retroactive. So people in prison now for drug trafficking could be released earlier than expected.
Some maximum sentences will also be lowered if the legislation becomes law. The highest amount of prison time for trafficking cocaine would decline to 25 years instead of 30.
The bill passed with bipartisan support 62 to 45 in the House and now must pass the Senate and be signed by Gov. Henry McMaster to become law.
Because the House didn’t pass the bill before April 10, it’s unlikely the Senate will consider it this year. Under legislative rules, because the bill missed the crossover deadline, two-thirds of the Senate would have to agree to take up the bill this year.