COLUMBIA - South Carolina's new domestic
violence law that goes into effect Jan. 1 will give judges a heavier
hammer to make offenders obey restraining orders and to force them
into treatment, victim advocates say.
The advocates point to last week's guilty plea by a former
spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford as an example of the way the justice
system typically works in these cases.
In exchange for his plea, Will Folks got a 30-day jail sentence
and $500 fine suspended on condition that he attend a six-month
counseling course and in the meantime stay away from former fiancee
Ashley Smith.
Police photographs reviewed in court showed bruising on Smith's,
back, leg and arm. According to a police report, Smith said Folks
grabbed her and pushed her into a piece of furniture.
Folks' plea agreement was the result of negotiations involving
prosecutors, Smith and her attorney. Victim advocates say such
outcomes, incorporating suspensions of fines and jail sentences with
conditions that include counseling and restraining orders, are
common in these cases.
Beginning Jan. 1, the minimum fine under such circumstances will
double to $1,000. That's in addition to the cost of $520 for
counseling, which will be mandatory in all cases. Current law
doesn't require judges to order abusers to undergo counseling.
"Advocates see this as a great improvement; (the fine) is held
over their head as a condition for completing their treatment," said
Laura Hudson, spokeswoman for the S.C. Victim Assistance Network, a
nonprofit victim advocacy organization.
The Folks case was also typical, advocates say, in that the
police report said his fiancee had not wanted him charged with
domestic violence. Instead, Columbia police used powers the
legislature gave law enforcement officers in 2002 to bring charges
themselves when they suspect that domestic abuse has occurred. Smith
had gone to the police to complain that Folks had kicked in the door
of her home.
In recent years, South Carolina has either led the nation or
ranked in the top six in the rate of women killed by men as a
percentage of population.
However, the number of S.C. women murdered by husbands,
ex-husbands or boyfriends has been declining. Law enforcement
experts say that's part of a long-term national trend due in part to
prosecutors and judges taking domestic abuse more seriously, as well
as the increased availability of battered women's shelters and other
services.
According to the State Law Enforcement Division, there were 30
female domestic homicide victims in 2003, the latest year for which
numbers have been compiled, compared to 34 for 2002.
Hudson said the real value of the new domestic violence law,
which Sanford signed in June, is the increased penalties for second
and third offenses. The law requires a $2,500 fine and a mandatory
minimum jail sentence of 30 days for second offense. It makes a
third offense a felony with a minimum one-year prison term.
"We need for the state to make an offender accountable for his
actions regardless of what the victim thinks, and we think the new
law does this," said
Hudson.
