Governor favors death penalty for some sex offenders

MEG KINNARD, Associated Press

COLUMBIA -- Gov. Mark Sanford announced support Monday for a bill that would make some twice-convicted sex offenders eligible for the death penalty, boosting chances South Carolina will become only the second state in the country to execute criminals who did not kill.

The bill, which still must pass the South Carolina House, would make capital punishment an option for offenders convicted twice of sexually assaulting children under 11. Such crimes "can destroy for a long time, and maybe forever, that young person's ability to function, that young person's trust in older people, trust in others," Sanford said.

Last week, the state Senate approved the measure, which was included in a larger bill that sets minimum sentences and lifetime electronic monitoring for some sex offenders. The bill is now headed to the House, where Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison believes it will be approved.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to many House members about the bill, but the ones I've heard comment on the bill were fully supportive," said Harrison, R-Columbia.

Harrison said he hopes to have the bill on the House floor by next month.

"This is a law whose time has come," said state Attorney General Henry McMaster. "There's nothing worse that can happen to society ... than to have these acts go unpunished."

Harrison praised Sanford's support and encouraged South Carolinians to check the sex offender registry on the State Law Enforcement Division's Web site.

"We are engaged in a battle with sexual predators in this state," Harrison said. "We owe it to our youngest and most vulnerable members of society no less."

Before the Senate approved the bill last week, McMaster told lawmakers he believes the proposed law would be found constitutional and said he would be proud to argue the case himself. He reiterated that Monday.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 1977 Georgia case that handing down a death sentence for rape was unconstitutional. That case involved an adult victim, and the high court did not rule on a hypothetical child victim.

In 1995, Louisiana approved letting prosecutors seek the death penalty for sex offenders convicted of raping children under 12 years old. Four years later, that state's Supreme Court said the law was constitutional because the 1977 ruling dealt with an adult, not a child victim.

Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, the sponsor of the Sex Offender Accountability and Protection of Minors Act, said he didn't include the death penalty provision when originally drafting the bill because he was told it was unconstitutional. Now, he says, South Carolina should take advantage of an opportunity to set precedent.

"South Carolina shouldn't have to wait on another state to come up and say whether yo•can do it or not," Knotts said. "We've got a chance to do it, we need to do it."

Oklahoma lawmakers are considering similar legislation.