COLUMBIA -- A comprehensive plan to divert nonviolent criminals from prisons to the probation and parole system so South Carolina can avoid spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build new prisons was adopted Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 14-0 vote.

The bill calls for more drug users to serve supervised criminal sentences in the community as a way to free up beds in the overcrowded prisons. The measure, as written, deals with future offenders, although there are a few exceptions to parole some current prisoners.

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CLEMSON - It's troubling but probably was inevitable, said Clemson University chemist John W. Huffman, who after a lifetime of scientific research is seeing marijuana-related compounds he developed as lab tools in a quest to improve health used for a potentially dangerous high.

Synthetic marijuana-related compounds he painstakingly developed over two decades to study their biological effects and ultimately develop medications to help AIDS, multiple sclerosis and chemotherapy patients, now are gaining popularity with recreational drug users as "fake" pot.

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Sniffing Out Meth Labs Constant Battle Drug Is Cheap, Easy To Manufacture But Exacts Huge Toll On Users, Families, Authorities Say

MONCKS CORNER - On a spring day two years ago, members of Berkeley County's "meth" team cautiously approached a rusty Winnebago in a country field.

Deputies suspected someone was inside cooking a batch of methamphetamine. But they needed a closer look.

Suddenly, a man confronted them, then ordered his chained dog to attack before running to destroy the load of toxic chemicals stored in his mobile lab.

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Efforts to improve the criminal justice system are too often reduced to political slogans. Proposals labeled "tough" win, while those branded "soft" lose.

We seem trapped in an "I'm tough - you're soft on crime" debate. It's an unproductive debate that doesn't tell us whether an idea will actually improve the criminal justice system.

Even worse, our get-tough-only politics is over-filling our prisons and costing us more than we can afford.

There is a better approach. Instead of just getting tough, we can get smart on crime.

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In a Feb. 22 editorial it was pointed out that '60 percent of the growth in the federal prison population over the last 20 years has been due to drug offenses.'

Also, the editorial pointed out that '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.'

In the Feb. 24 Post and Courier, North Charleston Police Chief Jon Zumalt says he supports efforts to keep repeat, violent criminals behind bars while finding programs that help nonviolent offenders change their behaviors and learn job skills.

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The lead story on the front page on Feb. 22 was about South Carolina turning loose non-violent inmates from our state prison system. It spoke of these being mostly people convicted of drug offenses. Why bother going through the judicial process just to turn these people back on the street?

State after state is now legalizing marijuana, and taxing and regulating it. This puts money into the state coffers; it isn’t taking money out. It also frees up law enforcement to devote their time to crimes that are more of a threat to society.

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The problems with our criminal justice system can seem insurmountable: The violent crime rate remains too high, violent offenders are returning to a life of crime at an unacceptable pace, and the prison population is growing at an unsustainable rate. Even if we could afford to keep building new prisons, it would not improve the level of safety for South Carolinians.

But while we cannot build our way out of the problem or spend our way to a solution, we can make a number of commonsense reforms that will make the system stronger and our communities safer.

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Legislature Weighs Early Release Of Prisoners To Help With Budget Woes

COLUMBIA -- Word that the state's latest cost-cutting plan included possibly dumping 3,000 prison inmates on the streets sent shivers through South Carolina last week, but experts say millions could be saved with little danger to the public.

States across the nation are grappling with the same problem as prison costs chew up a sizable chunk of their budgets in the midst of a crippling recession. Law enforcement officials argue that the potential threat to public safety justifies the expense. But others aren't so sure.

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A bill introduced this month in the state Senate would adopt changes in sentencing rules that were recommended by the legislatively created S.C. Sentencing Reform Commission. These, by and large, are sensible changes that will alleviate prison crowding, save tax dollars and help prevent repeat offenses.

As lawmakers debate this bill that mirrors the Sentencing Reform Commission's recommendations they should resist the temptation to tinker with the set of changes recommended by the commission they appointed. The changes won't work if they're adopted in piecemeal fashion to meet the whims of individual lawmakers or the expectations of certain narrow constituencies.

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COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford balked Tuesday at ordering the early release of nonviolent inmates to ease a $29 million deficit at the Department of Corrections. Instead, he said there needed to be consensus among all three branches of state government before any prisoners are set free early.

The governor's comments came during the state Budget and Control Board meeting. The panel cleared the way for the prisons agency to spend more money than it has. It's the third time in three years the prisons agency has run short of cash as budget cuts have taken a toll on its operations.

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Move Would Be Response to Budget Deficits

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina will consider opening its prison doors and freeing up to 3,000 inmates before their sentences are finished as a way to save money during a crippling economic time.

States from Connecticut to California have adopted or are mulling similar measures to keep budgets afloat, but critics warn that these initiatives could be destined to fail if not accompanied by adequate support and supervision.

The state's lead budget writer, Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, raised the idea Tuesday at the Budget and Control Board before the panel voted 5-0 to let the Department of Corrections spend $30 million beyond its budget to keep prisons operating.

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Efforts to improve the criminal justice system are too often reduced to political slogans. Proposals labeled "tough" win, while those branded "soft" lose.

We seem trapped in an "I'm tough -- you're soft on crime" debate. It's an unproductive debate that doesn't tell us whether an idea will actually improve the criminal justice system. Even worse, our get-tough-only politics is over-filling our prisons and costing us more than we can afford.

There is a better approach. Instead of just getting tough, we can get smart on crime.

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State taxpayers spend millions each year to lock up prisoners for probation violations, driving under suspension and other nonviolent offenses -- and the costs are expected to swell by hundreds of millions if nothing is done.

Prison admissions have grown 26 percent in a decade with a large chunk coming not from murderers, rapists and other violent criminals but lower-level offenders.

Forty-nine percent of the state's inmates are imprisoned for nonviolent offenses, mostly drug and property crimes. Forty-four percent of new inmates have sentences of less than 18 months.

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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.

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South Carolina would save money and better serve inmates if it makes some sentencing changes recommended by a commission that was created by lawmakers in 2008.

The state Corrections Department has seen a tremendous increase in the volume of inmates. According to data presented by the S.C. Sentencing Reform Commission, the state's prison population has increased from 9,137 inmates in 1983 to more than 25,000 today. The department's budget has increased by more than 500 percent in that same period from $63.7 million in 1983 to $394.1 million in 2008.

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Spartanburg County Clerk of Court Faces Drug Charges Kitchens Accused of Conspiring With Area Businessman to Sell Drugs Held As Evidence

GREENVILLE -- Federal investigators arrested Spartanburg County Clerk of Court Marc Kitchens and an area real estate developer early Tuesday after agents say Kitchens received $3,000 for a summer drug deal -- and investigators believe the drugs in question came from the evidence locker in Kitchens' office.

Kitchens is accused of conspiring with Woodruff businessman Terry Glenn Lanford to take cocaine and methamphetamine from the locker and sell it to a drug dealer in the Orlando, Fla., area between April 2009 and January 2010.

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Panel Urges Changes In Sentencing Prison Recommended For State's Violent Offenders, Alternative Routes For Others

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina prison beds should be reserved for the most violent offenders, the state's Sentencing Reform Commission recommended Tuesday.

Certain nonviolent offenders, such as drug users, should be given alternative sentences, including probation and community service, and geriatric and terminally ill inmates should be released to make room for murderers, drug traffickers and rapists, according to the commission's long-awaited report.

Such moves would save more than $92 million dollars in prison operations in the next five years and prevent the need to build a $317 million jailhouse, the report said. The savings could be shifted to the currently overwhelmed probation and parole system, but the money to keep a better watch on criminals out on the street won't be immediately available.

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Dear Editor,

In the Jan. 15 issue of The Daily Gamecock, the editorial "US demand for pot funds drug cartels" tells the reader that because of Americans' heavy use of marijuana, a war in Mexico is being fueled like no other. The author talks about how there are large killings and acts of evil going on in the name of drug profiteering.

After reading the editorial, I thought to myself about how mainstream marijuana has become. There have been movies, songs and even magazines dedicated to it, making it clear Americans have made a stand that they believe marijuana should be something that is accessible to all free Americans. So this brings me to my point. I disagree that these drug wars are happening because Americans are buying marijuana. I believe that if the U.S. Federal government were to legalize marijuana then not only would they be able to tax it and make money, but at the same time they would be able to completely end these terrible drug wars. I will stand by that statement. If it is legalized, it would open up new jobs for Americans in dispensaries, as well as create opportunities for American farmers to begin growing a brand new crop to bring in newfound revenue (which we all can agree is hard to come by these days). Because of it being legalized, the Mexican drug cartels would have nothing to fight over. Americans would make their own marijuana or buy it from an actual company that supplies it to them. On the topic of how hazardous it is to your health I would say that I would rather smoke pot than drink alcohol. I would rather smoke pot than smoke tobacco. I will stand by both of those statements.

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I think Sen. David Thomas' proposal to drug-test people in South Carolina before they can receive unemployment benefits is one of the most asinine ideas that I have ever heard of in my lifetime.

I am a native Greenvillian and graduate of Wade Hampton High School and Furman University. As of January 2009 I was employed with a global engineering company in Greenville =AD until major contracts were canceled by customers and all contract and many direct employees (like me) were laid off, placed on =93leave of absence=94 or our jobs were cut. With all of this going on, just exactly how do you think that I have felt this past year without a job? And it is not because I have not tried to find a job that I am still unemployed, as I have sent literally hundreds of resumes locally and all over the country. My only prospect was going to work as a contractor and then deploy to Afghanistan in order to have a job. Although to some, this prospect would be fabulous, it was not an opportunity that I wanted to explore and therefore I still find myself unemployed. So on top of all of this, then I had the pleasure of reading about Thomas' drug testing proposal.

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Bravo to Sen. David Thomas for proposing a bill that would require those receiving unemployment benefits to prove they are free of illegal drugs. It should be no different than what occurs in the workplace: If you are found to be under the influence of illegal drugs while working, you will be fired, plain and simple. One need not be shown to have performed his or her job poorly while under the influence. Do drugs and lose the privilege of keeping your job.

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