Lawmaker apologizes for abuse remarks

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Altman, whose motion on April 18 killed a bill in the House Judiciary Committee that would have toughened criminal domestic violence penalties, spoke briefly on the House floor and then had a letter of apology distributed to members.

House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, said a new and tougher bill has been prepared that will bypass the Judiciary Committee and be debated today on the floor.

Some local women said the new legislation is a step in the right direction. Others, however, said Altman should apologize to victims of domestic violence.

Rep. John Scott, D-Columbia, said he was concerned because members will have to debate a bill they haven't seen and will be under pressure not to appear to be against strengthening domestic violence laws.

"We've not had any real debate in subcommittee or committee on these because we're bypassing them," he said.

But it was good news for Renee Middleton, executive director of Safe Harbor Inc., a domestic abuse advocacy organization who said the bill is "a wonderful step in the right direction. I'm very pleased with the penalties they're talking about."

Altman's apology is another matter, she said. "I have a problem believing he's sincere."

Fay Brown, executive director of Foothills Alliance, which serves victims in Anderson and Oconee counties, said that because she didn't hear Altman's apology, "I wouldn't be able to comment on his sincerity."

But she said, "I think he should be apologizing to the victims. I think they were the ones who were insulted and hurt deeply because he could not relate to their hurt."

Brown is hopeful, however, for the new legislation.

"It certainly seems to strengthen what we've got," she said. "Just about anything would be better than what we've got now."

Party criticism

Earlier Tuesday, state Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson said Altman's previous statements before the committee and in television interviews were "disappointing and out of line."

Wilkins, in his weekly program on South Carolina Education Television, said he had "some very serious discussions" with Altman in person and by telephone. He declined to elaborate.

Greenville Republican Bob Leach is the principal sponsor of the new bill, one he called "even tougher" than the defunct version of which he was a co-sponsor.

Leach said the new bill, with nearly 50 co-sponsors including Altman and many Democrats, was fast-tracked because "people here felt so bad and didn't want folks to look down on South Carolina."

Altman's comments and the tabling of the domestic violence bill last week came just after the Judiciary Committee approved legislation toughening the state's weak penalties for cockfighting.

Wilkins said then that the proximity of the two actions and Altman's comments made it erroneously appear that the House "cared more about chickens than (battered) women."

Expresses apology

Altman said in the letter that his "intention was not and never will be to paint this institution or you in a negative manner. And so I regret the attention this whole episode has received."

"I know many of you don't like or appreciate my comments. I am sorry to those I have offended. But I hope we never get to a place in this body, in this state, when we are no longer allowed to speak our minds."

The bill is an improvement that "will move us along," said Vicki Bouris, executive director of the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

But Bouris questioned Altman's apology, citing the pressure he was under and the way his remarks were made: "It wasn't like they were impulsive so it's hard to know how sincere he was."

Brief hearing

According to the committee staff's tape of the April 18 hearing, members spent 12 minutes on the domestic violence bill.

While Altman is heard demeaning the bill, other members mocked it in the background.

"The woman (who is abused) ought to not be around the man," Altman told a WIS-TV reporter after the hearing, The Associated Press reported. "I mean, you women want it one way and not another," he told the female reporter.

SCETV officials said that because of intense interest in the issue, the Wilkins program, 'This Week in the House," will be repeated at noon today on its broadcast channel. The program usually is available only on digital television sets or cable firms' digital tiers.

The AP reported that the original bill's sponsor, Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, called the revised measure "a Republican whitewash" during Tuesday morning's House Democratic Caucus meeting.

But Wilkins said it wasn't and "I hope we don't get into the game of pride of authorship." He said Cobb-Hunter removed her name from the list of sponsors Tuesday morning, but that Rep. Harry Ott of St. Matthews, the House Democratic leader, is a co-sponsor.

Defective bill

Wilkins and others said the original bill was defective because it included extraneous matter, including an expansion of the state's divorce laws to add mental cruelty to grounds for divorce. He said that that could only be addressed by constitutional amendment.

The legislation should be limited to toughening the state's two-year-old felony domestic violence law, he said.

In South Carolina, criminal domestic violence first and second offense is a misdemeanor handled in magistrate's court that carries up to 30 days in jail if convicted. A third offense is still a misdemeanor but is handled in circuit court and carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

The bill that was killed on April 18 would have made second offense a felony.

South Carolina law has a separate category of domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature when an assault is committed with a deadly weapon, results in serious injury or could cause a person to fear death or serious bodily injury.

Those cases are felonies no matter what, and carry a maximum of 10 years with a requirement that 85 percent of the sentence be served before becoming eligible for parole.

Tougher penalties

The bill that was scuttled would have made third offense a felony.

Leach's new bill would:

— Raise the first offense penalty to up to a $2,500 fine from $500, but retain the maximum 30 days of jail time.

— Increase the second offense penalty to a maximum $5,000 fine and 30 days to one year in jail, up from 30 days and $500.

— Make third and subsequent offenses a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.

— Add a provision making criminal domestic violence in the presence of a child a felony with the same penalties as for an aggravated offense.

— Allow pre-trial intervention on a first offense only if the defendant completes a treatment program.

Heidi Coryell Williams of the Easley Bureau contributed to this report.

Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.