South Carolina's parole system can't erase the suffering of violent-crime victims and their families. The General Assembly can and has, however, found a prudent way to ease the load of those who want to testify at parole hearings - and to give the parole board a clearer picture of the cases before them. Thanks to legislation approved last year, victims and their families can testify before the board without having to travel to Columbia.

As John Chambliss reported in Tuesday's Post and Courier, that legislation allows witnesses to testify through a live-feed video camera at assorted locations around the state. Felons going before the parole board already give their testimony via video cameras from correctional institutions around the state.

The first site for the victim-testimony program, which begins today, is the National Guard Armory in North Charleston. Other sites are scheduled to open within the next year at armories in the Florence, Greenville and Rock Hill areas.

This innovation should enable many more victims and their families to have the input they deserve on decisions to parole the criminals who committed violence against them. Charleston's Joanna Katz, a rape victim, was a driving force in advancing this cause. Now, after nine annual trips to Columbia for parole hearings, she will have a much shorter drive.

So will Ryan Sneed of Mount Pleasant, who has been making trips twice a year to testify at parole hearings for the two prisoners convicted on manslaughter charges in his father's gunshot death during a robbery. Mr. Sneed told our reporter: "It is just a huge thing for us. It will be less expensive, and we won't have to miss work."

Samuel Glover, director of S.C. Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, told our reporter a $42,139 federal grant will cover the program's first-year costs for staff and a computer, with the state picking up the future tab. That's money very well spent.