COLUMBIA - Some twice-convicted child molesters would be eligible for the death penalty under legislation headed to Gov. Mark Sanford's desk.

In a party-line vote, the House approved a Senate bill Wednesday that allows capital punishment in cases in which sex offenders are repeatedly convicted of raping a child younger than 11. Eleven Democrats joined the Republican majority to approve the bill 84-27.

Sanford has expressed support for the legislation, which would make the state's sex crimes laws among the toughest in the nation.

'This is a great step forward that will send a message loud and clear that that kind of conduct is not tolerated in South Carolina,' said Attorney General Henry McMaster, a Republican. 'We have stepped into the forefront of those states recognizing the threat of sexual predators.

McMaster contends the legislation is constitutional, though critics argue it goes beyond what higher courts allow.

'It will be challenged, if not here, in some other states,' McMaster acknowledged. 'It needs to be tested, and I predict the Supreme Court will conclude it is perfectly constitutional.'

Critics argue the litigation would cost the taxpayers money for a bill that is nothing more than an election-year ruse.

'Most attorneys and judges I talk to think it's unconstitutional,' said Symmes Culberson, president of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. 'They are needlessly going to waste taxpayer money to prosecute a crime that can be dealt with in other methods.'

The bill is known as 'Jessica's Law' after Jessica Lunsford, a young girl in Florida who was raped and murdered by a known sex offender who lived nearby.

But it gained momentum after a South Carolina man was charged in March with kidnapping and raping two girls in a makeshift dungeon at his Hartsville home.

A House panel initially removed the death row measure from the larger sexual predator legislation but added it back on Wednesday after passing a companion bill that clarifies a number of provisions.

The second bill still needs final approval in the Senate.

The combined legislative package would also:

Increase the mandatory minimum sentence for sex offenders to 25 years to life in prison.

Make electronic monitoring mandatory for offenders who are found guilty of lewd or criminal sexual conduct.

Create a new crime for harboring a sexual predator.

Spell out that consensual sex with a child older than 14 is not criminal.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said scarring sex offenders with tough penalties is not the way to curb their behavior.

'What you do with pedophiles is limit their access to children,' said Cobb-Hunter, a social worker. 'I'm not sure we understand that holding a threat (over their head) of a death penalty isn't going to work.'

Outside of the policy concerns, a number of lawmakers were upset about the politics of how the bill arrived in the House.

Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, used procedural maneuvers to aggressively push the bill forward. After the House dropped the death penalty provision, he threatened to kill every House bill pending in the Senate.

Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston, said the House should have stood up to Knotts' bullying.

'I am not here to say I want to rehabilitate them,' he said. 'But this bill and the surrounding hoopla is a mess. I simply don't understand it,' Altman said.

 

Final day at the Statehouse

On Wednesday, the House and Senate rushed to finish a number of matters before today's mandatory 5 p.m. adjournment. Here's a summary of the action and what's left to do before they leave Columbia.

What got done

Property tax: The House and Senate signed off on a compromise plan to increase the sales tax one penny in order to reduce the state's comparatively low property taxes on homes. The bill also reduces the sales tax on groceries and adds two sales tax holidays after Thanksgiving.

State budget: In an anticlimactic voice vote, the House and Senate approved a $6.6 billion spending plan that doles out money for state employee pay raises, colleges and universities, early childhood education and pork projects in lawmakers' districts.

Sine Die: The House approved a Senate 'sine die' resolution to return to Columbia June 14-16. Gov. Mark Sanford vowed to call lawmakers back for consideration of gubernatorial budget vetoes before the June 13 primary and could sign that executive order today. The issue sparked a fierce debate that revealed an outward contempt among lawmakers for what they see is a political ploy on Sanford's part.

What's left

Eminent Domain: One of the legislative session's paramount issues remains unsolved after the House insisted on including a controversial provision the Senate refuses to adopt. The 'regulatory takings' provision would force local governments to compensate landowners for zoning changes, and possibly cripple their ability to control growth. The issue will be heard today.

Animal cruelty: House and Senate lawmakers failed to agree on a bill that would better define what constitutes hog- and dogfighting penalties because rural lawmakers objected to a provision in the bill that increases the punishment for cockfighting. A bill with watered-down cockfighting penalties will be debated today.

Blue laws: The Senate resurrected a bill passed by the House last year that would loosen 'blue laws' that prohibit some counties from opening stores early on Sunday. House and Senate lawmakers are expected to work out the differences today.

 

In the Legislature

For a full report on the Legislature, go to www.charleston.net/webextras.

 

Reach John Frank at (803) 799-9051 or jbfrank@postandcourier.com.

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