McMaster Announces Plan to Abolish Parole
Legislation will be Modeled on the Successful Efforts of the Federal Government and the State of Virginia
Columbia, S.C. - November 13, 2007 Attorney General Henry McMaster began a two-day trip around the state this morning to announce his effort to abolish parole in South Carolina. McMaster first visited North Charleston, and then traveled to Columbia and Greenville. A stop in Horry County is planned for tomorrow.
McMaster, long an advocate of abolishing parole, has been studying the possibility of accomplishing this goal for the state’s crime victims for over two (2) years. During that time, he has consulted with judges, victim advocates, legislators, state prison officials, and officials from the State of Virginia where the change has produced significant results.
The United States Congress eliminated parole for inmates beginning in 1987, and Virginia did the same in 1994. In Virginia, the result has been an overall reduction in that state’s prison population growth. Between 1985 and 1995, Virginia’s prison population increased by 154 percent. Between 1995 and 2004, however, the prison population grew by only 31 percent.
McMaster explained that the public’s confidence in the judicial system is damaged unnecessarily when a judge imposes a sentence on a convicted person, only to have that same convict eligible for release a short time later - after serving as little as 25 percent of their sentence.
“The public must have confidence in the criminal justice system, and that confidence is steadily eroded by parole,” said McMaster. “Abolishing parole would return a judge’s power to impose a true and meaningful sentence, and the victims of crime and the public would know what that sentence means.”
“Today, no one really knows how long a convict will actually be behind bars, and that decision is removed from the judge and placed in the hands of a nearly anonymous parole board,” McMaster explained.
A second effect of abolishing parole would be that appropriate non-violent offenders would likely receive fewer jail sentences, and would instead receive alternative sentences that would focus on education and job training, a model McMaster has described as a “Middle Court.” Currently, a number of counties already divert these kinds of offenders to similar programs through “Drug Courts.” A second law would be needed to create this program for the entire state once parole has been abolished.
The No Parole bill will be pre-filed in the House by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison (Richland), and in the Senate by Senator Larry Martin (Pickens).
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