The Island Packet from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (2024)

August 30, 2015

Publication:

The Island Packeti

Location:

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Issue Date:

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Page:

17

Extracted Article Text (OCR)

IS THIS MAN TOO DANGEROUS TO BE REED? lslandpacketcom beaufortgazettecom Sunday August 30 2015 17 A Solicitor: SC max out system dangerous The system allows offenders to be released if they earn education and work credits By GINA SMITH gsmithislandpacketcom 843 706 8114 Releasing SC prisoners before they complete their sentences is costing lives said 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffle Stone His case in point: Khalil Singleton 8 who was shot to death Sept 1 2012 while playing in his Hilton Head Island yard by Tyrone Robinson a long time criminal with a rap sheet dating back to 1995 Robinson should have still been in prison on that date scrv 1 ing a 13 year Slngloton sentence for leading police on a high speed chase through Old Town Bluffton in a stolen car and resisting arrest in 2002 Stone said Instead Robinson was released af ter serving a little over half his sentence because he earned education credits and worked as a wardkeeper a groundskeeper and other jobs while in prison Singleion would still be ali v6 today if we had truth in sentencing in this state" Slone said "Tyrone Robinson should have still Singleton would still be alive today ifwe had truth in sentencing in this state Tyrone Robinson should have still been in prison Sentences should mean what they Duffie Stone 14 th Circuit Solicitor practice Stone contends because offenders just specialize in violent or non violent crimes "Just look at Tyrone Robinson They make those distinc he said Jon Ozmint the Immedi ate past director of the SC Department of Corrections who now works as a lawyer and consultant disagrees with assessment or starters unknown variables make it impossible to predict whether shooting death a violent crime tliat has since sent Robinson to prison for life would have occurred Additionally the max out system is necessary said Ozmint and others be cause it entices offenders to behave while behind bars protects prison guards and saves money "There has to be incentives IN 2012: TEN STATES OR OUT More SC offenders "max their prison terms than those in nearly every other state Critics say offenders should be required to serve every day to which they're sentenced not be released because they earn work and job credits lorida Maine North Carolina Oklahoma Ohio South Carolina Massachusetts Utah New Jersey Nevada 215 national average 64'3 599 559 HHHBHHHH 436 HHHHHMI 412 41294 393 Source: "Max Out: The Rise In Pt Ison Inmates Released Without Supervision" The Pew Charitable Trusts MONEY MATTERS Money concerns also ex td a legislative review Near ly half of those behind bars VIDEOS ONLINE Philip Underwood 1 Sheppard was booked at the Beaufort County Detention Center riday afternoon Should South Carolina allow offenders to "max out" their prison sen tences? ormer director of the SC Department of Corrections Jon Oz mint and 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone disagree up to 20 years arc ineligible for parole and offenders must serve at least 85 per cent of their sentences be foremaxingout 'Hie reforms appear to have been effective in decreasing been in prison Sentences should mean what they say" Nationally South Caro lina allows more offend ers to max out their prison sentences than most other states according to a 2014 report by the Pew Charita ble Public Safety Per formance Project Just five states Ohio Oklahoma North Carolina Maine and lorida released a higher percentage of offenders than South 44 percent Max out means offenders reduce their prison time by earning credits for educa tion work and good be havior They face any supervision after they are released for good behavior They make it safer for your em ployees inside the prisons and safer for the communi ties around the Oz mint said you take away all hope from men then they will act like men with no Research shows that of fenders who participate in prison work and education programs have a lower rate of becoming repeat offend ers said Ozmint In 2012 nearly 25 percent of the more than 11000 inmates released from SC prisons committed new crimes within three years accord ing to data from the SC De partment of Corrections Of those who were involved in plain why South Carolina allows maxing out of sen tences Conservative SC taxpay ers willing to pay more in taxes to build prisons said Sen Gerald Malloy Darlington who headed the state legislature's sentencing reform effort ive years ago In 2010 lawmakers were confronted with an explod ing offender population and a multi million dollar need for more prisons So like their counterparts in many other states they explored ways to reduce the nonvio lent prison population and reduce recidivism knew we had to do something" Malloy said "The war on drugs just did were being held for nonvio lent crimes 20 percent for drug related offenses and another 24 percent forbreak ing the rules of their release such as failing a drug test Sentencing reform sought to clear those offenders out by making better use of community based alterna tives such as drug courts and restitution The result of work: lighter sentences for dozens of charges Now SC offenders who break into commercial buildings during the day are eligible for parole So are those con victed of first or second de gree drug offenses (with the exception of drug traffick ing) 'Die reform was paired the prison population Since 2010 it has dropped by 13 percent from nearly 2 1000 prisoners to about 21000 according to the SC Depart ment of Corrections The state has shuttered three of its minimum security pris ons in response reform) has been such a big success" Malloysaid But sentencing reform gets just part of the credit for the drop Ozmint acknowledg es South Carolina and all other states are enjoying a decades long reduction in crime Researchers are still debating the reasons why with theories ranging from an aging population to im proved police tactics While mostly nonviolent offenders arc eligible for maxing out in South Caro lina still a dangerous work or education programs the recidivism rate dropped ranging from 15 percent to nearly 23 percent not work and it had filled our Nonviolent prisoners were causing the glut according with "get tough" changes for violent offenders Now ma jor assaults rapes and other crimes that carry sentences PLANS TO TRY AGAIN The 2010 reforms stop the fighting at the State house over who should get to max out their sentences or be paroled In 2013 Sen Greg Hem bree Horry the former 15th Circuit solicitor tried to ban the option of parole for any crime that carried a sentence of more than a year Stone and the SC Solicitors Association backed the bill But it went nowhere "The lawyers in the legis lature are mostly criminal defense lawyers and trial lawyers" Hembree said in that group too but a prosecutor at heart I think some of those (lawmakers) are making decis i ons that are best for their clients They see their clients as their con stituents in some ways" lembree said he plans to try again soon to pass legis lation that would require all offenders to serve al least 85 percent of their sen tences Sen Larry Martin Pickens chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee wants to pursue similar legislation would create a system so that when you walk out of the courtroom you know exactly what the sentence is And there will be no hit or miss in front of a panel of the parole board and no public outcry if a person is released early Tliat would be the fair est system we could have" said Martin who in 2013 was incensed that former Home Gold chairman Jack Sterling was granted parole less than a year after he began serving a five year prison sentence Sterling was convicted of securities fraud after costing about 12000 investors an es timated $278 million But such an overhaul will not only be cumbersome but politically complicated because dozens of sentences would need to be recalibrat ed Martin said Tliat means many offenses would sud denly carry shorter prison terms "So at least on paper law makers would be perceived as being soft on crime as handing out sentences for less time than they now re quire" he said going to cause some (lawmakers) heartburn" ollow editor Gina Smit li at twittercomGmaNSmith STORM Continued from 1 A Young men around Roseau fanned out to assist neigh bors and clear roads said Thomas Holmes a guidance counselor who has been meeting with victims add ing that they are numbed by the disaster did not expect the storm to affect Dominica the way it he said as sumed be getting some rain but not for that dura tion It hit Dominica for over 11 Officials said the flooding was so destructive in part be cause tlic small island has 365 rivers as well as several lakes and waterfalls The main airport which was recently renovated remained closed and partially underwater and dozens of bridges have been washed out Some Dominicans opted to take ferries to the nearby Residents work to salvage left of their home at the site of a mudslide Saturday In Montrouls Haiti One person died In the mudslide Just north of Port au Prince '4 DIEUNALIO CHERY The Associated Press islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe to catch flights elsewhere to stay with friends and family Those who stayed behind shoveled mud from their homes as television sets bookcases and mattresses piled up outside "The destruction is unbe said Terry Dyer who lives on west coast and is cut off from the capital "It is sudden and widespread I have never seen that before" Go fast boats zipped around Dominica carrying rescuers and those seeking to reach relatives trapped in isolated communities dicey and danger ous but doing what we can" said Assistant Po lice Superintendent Claude Wcckes As Dominicans continued to dig out of the disaster on Saturday TYopical Storm Eri ka dissipated after drenching Cuba the Dominican Repub lic and I laid At least one person died in Haiti in a suspected mud slide and four others were killed and another II were hospitalized in Lcogane just west of the Haitian capital when a truck carrying a li quor known locally asclai rin crashed into a bus and exploded Authorities said it apparently was raining when the accident occurred Haitian authorities also evacuated 254 prisoners in Gonaivcs to other locations because of flooding and two people were hospitalized after their home in Port au Prince collapsed in heavy rains Before disintegrating Erika also knocked out power to more than 200000 people in I Ricoand caused more than $16 million in damage to crops there including plan tains bananas and coffee Erika was a particularly wet storm and moved across a region that has been strug gling with the worst drought in recent years The remnants of Erika were expected to move near the coast of eastern and cen tral Cuba on Saturday and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico today The Hurricane Center said tliat starting cm Sunday rainfall of3 to 5 inches with locally heavier amounts is possible across southern and central lorida Gusty winds could occur over southern lorida beginning today A state of emergency re mained in place for all of lorida and officials urged residents to fill gas tanks and stockpile food and water Meanwhile in the Pacific Jimena turned into a pow erful Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 150 mph The Hurricane Center said it was expected to remain a major hurricane through Monday though it did not pose an immediate threat to land.

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