Bill would end recognition of common law marriages

By JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press

COLUMBIA - South Carolina would do away with recognizing common law marriages under legislation that received approval in a Senate subcommittee Wednesday.

Bill supporters say the law needs to be changed because of the difficulty in distributing assets when a common law spouse dies.

Fewer than a dozen states recognize common law marriages and some, including Oklahoma and Utah, also have been trying to end the practice.

South Carolina has been trying to drop the recognition for years, said Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg.

'Hopefully this year will be the year that we resolve it,' Ritchie said.

Marriage has been on the minds of legislators during the past year, and they've made it an issue for voters, too. In November, voters will decide whether to change the state's constitution to make it clear that marriage is a union between a man and woman.

Sen. Bill Mescher, R-Pinopolis, said the statute on common law marriages was 'very confusing.'

He said he heard of an instance where a man who rented a room from a woman refused to leave, declaring that he was her common law husband.

But the only time a common law marriage exists is when a judge says so, Mescher said.

Probate Judge Amy McCulloch, legislative coordinator for the South Carolina Probate Judges Association, said the state only has a couple of ways of officially recognizing a common law marriage - by divorce or death.

'After death is where we're seeing the most problems,' she said.

Specifically, confusion arises when a common law spouse dies, and the couple had a child who is a minor. The child receives legal representation that argues against the surviving spouse for the estate.

In order for the surviving spouse to get money from the estate, the common law marriage must be documented.

Columbia lawyer Kermit King also said common law marriages are a problem when a worker dies on the job and the surviving partner tries to collect workers' compensation benefits.

It's up to the survivor to prove they lived together and had the intention of marrying, King said.

It is 'difficult sometimes to tell when it has happened and when it hasn't,' he said.

The Senate panel approved changes to House and Senate versions that would set Jan. 1, 2008 as the date to no longer recognize common law marriages.

The bills also would waive marriage license fees for those who can't afford them, but are in common law relationships.

That change won't move people to get marriage licenses, said Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Conway.

People who don't follow the news 'are never going to get it,' Rankin said.

'They're never going to come in.'

The bills now head to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Legislation would make human trafficking a felony

By SEANNA ADCOX
Associated Press

COLUMBIA - A bill that makes human trafficking, including sex slavery, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison received approval Wednesday in a Senate subcommittee.

The measure is designed to protect people from being abused and forced into slave labor of any kind. It targets not only those who transport the victims but anyone involved in the transaction.

'The whole idea is to go after those folks who orchestrate human trafficking,' said Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens. The measure allows law enforcement to charge 'the folks who keep an arm's length away so they don't get dirty and let someone else to do the dirty work.'

Most human trafficking victims are 'young, innocent and frightened' girls brought to the U.S. illegally on promises of lucrative jobs or a loving groom, said Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, the bill's chief sponsor.

When they cross the border, all guarantees disappear, and they're forced into slavery, which often includes forced prostitution, Ceips said.

A language barrier, their illegal status and threats to them and their families prevent the victims from going to police, she said.

The practice is not limited to third-world countries. 'It's a horrible crime. It's hard to catch, but it is happening,' Ceips said. 'We cannot turn our back on people treated this way, no matter where they are.'

Ceips was one of 15 women legislators from across the country who attended a 2004 conference in Florida on human trafficking and child prostitution sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Since 2004, at least nine states nationwide have passed laws that make human trafficking a felony, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The U.S. Justice Department's first successful sex trafficking case in 1998 involved South Carolina.

A State Department adviser on human trafficking told Rosa's story at a White House conference in 2002. Laura Lederer testified the 13-year-old Mexican waitress was lured to the U.S. with promises she'd make 10 times more money in Texas. Instead, Rosa and other young girls were sold and circulated between a series of trailer brothels in Florida and South Carolina.

'They were also taken to private parties and passed around,' Lederer said, according to transcripts. 'The young women were guarded 24 hours a day and beaten, pistol-whipped and raped if they refused a customer's request.'

The South Carolina House passed Ceips' bill last April. It now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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School bus legislation passes Senate committee

Associated Press

COLUMBIA - One in 12 school buses would be replaced yearly under a House bill headed to the Senate floor.

The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday approved the replacement schedule for the nation's only state-owned and maintained school bus fleet.

The Education Department has said it needs to buy up to 400 new buses each year at about $60,000 each for a 12-year replacement cycle. However, the agency has bought just 300 new buses since 2002.

House budget writers included $26 million for new school buses and $27 million to cover parts and rising fuel costs in the budget proposal they will debate next week.

The committee added an amendment to the legislation that says buses purchased have to be new. In July, the agency paid $3,025 for each of the 73 buses owned by the Jefferson County School Board in Louisville, Ky. The buses were on average about 13 years old.

The committee also said charter schools, where state laws don't require public transportation, will not get money for new buses.

In an unrelated action, the committee also sent a bill to the Senate floor that allows students in state high schools to take American Sign Language for a foreign language credit. Before it could only be taken as an elective.

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Boiled peanuts could become official state snack food

Associated Press

COLUMBIA - The slimy, juicy boiled peanut is on its way to becoming South Carolina's official state snack food.

A Senate committee passed a bill Wednesday that would recognize 'that this truly Southern delicacy is worthy of designation as the official state snack food.'

The bill defines the snack as peanuts, still in the shell, immersed in boiling water for at least an hour.

It doesn't say whether you should open the slick shells with your hands or teeth.

'Boiled peanuts are a delicious and popular snack food that are found both in stores and roadside stands across the state,' according to the bill.

The proposal, passed by the House last month, now moves to the Senate floor.

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Senate approves later school start

Associated Press

COLUMBIA - A bill meant to give parents more time with their children over
the summer gained key approval Wednesday on the Senate floor.

The measure, which passed the House last month, prevents schools from starting classes earlier than the third Monday in August. Schools with year-round schedules are exempt.

All but eight of the state's 85 districts started the school year before Aug. 12. Seventeen started classes Aug. 4, meaning some teachers returned in July.

School officials have said they need more class time before standardized testing and want to end the first semester before winter break.

Senators who opposed the bill do not think the state should dictate when students return to school.

The bill still requires a third reading in the Senate.

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Senate debates death penalty for child molesters

By SEANNA ADCOX
Associated Press

COLUMBIA - State senators debated Wednesday whether child molesters should face the death penalty if convicted of sexually abusing a child for a second time.

The debate came days after a convicted sex offender from Hartsville was charged with abducting two teenage girls and raping them in an underground room behind his home.

Kenneth G. Hinson, 47, had previously been convicted in 1991 of raping an 11-year-old girl. He was released from prison in 2000.

"I have a grandchild who is 3 years 8 months. It is absolutely inconceivable to me that we in South Carolina would allow somebody to live on a second offense after doing an act like this," said Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken.

Sen. Kevin Bryant wanted to put the death penalty provision into a bill that would require lifetime electronic monitoring for some sex offenders.

If news gets out that the state will put repeat child molesters to death, offenders who want to abuse children again will stay away, said Bryant, R-Anderson.

"Taking something from the soul that may not be repairable, I say, is just as bad as taking a life," Bryant said.

The bill also sets minimum prison sentences for sexual abuse, including a sentence of at least 25 years with no possibility of parole for someone convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a child less than 11 years old.

The bill is similar to one passed in Florida known as "Jessica's Law," named for a 9-year-old Florida girl who was murdered by a registered sex offender.

But some senators were concerned a law allowing the death penalty for someone who isn't convicted of murder would be unconstitutional and put the state's death penalty law in jeopardy.

"This is putting us in a political bind. Nobody wants to vote against being tough on child molesters," said Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg.

Hutto, who is an attorney, said the amendment would invite a legal challenge that would cost taxpayers millions of dollars and put victims through the agony of a second trial. He said death penalty cases that don't involve murder could be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

"This should be about locking these people up, so that hopefully they'll never get out," Hutto said.

Sen. Mike Fair countered that Hutto can't see into the future. "You're getting into ESP. You're trying to get clairvoyant," said Fair, R-Greenville.

The debate got so heated, senators took a brief recess to calm down.

"If I have to side with the constitutional rights of a pervert or protecting the children of South Carolina, I'll come down on the sides of the children every time," Bryant said. "I don't see how you can even make it to the courthouse with someone who's done something like this."

The Senate adjourned without resolving the issue and will take it up again Thursday.

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Senate panel approves breast-feeding bill

Associated Press

COLUMBIA - A bill to allow mothers to breast-feed their children in public without being ordered out of sight passed a Senate subcommittee Wednesday. The measure, approved by the House last month, allows women to breast-feed anywhere they have the right to be and exempts breast-feeding from indecent exposure laws.

"I think this is a good public policy statement here," said Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Columbia.

Advocates hope it will encourage mothers to breast-feed, rather than bottle-feed, their children. They testified today about the health benefits of breast-feeding to both the mother and child.

"Anything we can do to help women feel comfortable breast-feeding benefits society," said Dr. Harvey Kayman, a pediatrics professor at the University of South Carolina's School of Medicine.

Mary Beth Mullaney says women often go to a hot car in 90-degree weather or sit in a dirty public restroom to breast-feed because they fear being asked to leave. Mullaney, a lawyer, said she did not feel comfortable breast-feeding her 5-month-old son when she moved to South Carolina from New York because of the dirty looks she received.

"We need the support from the state," said Dawn White, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Breastfeeding Action Committee.

South Carolina is one of just 11 states nationwide with no law on breast-feeding, she said. The state ranks near the bottom nationally in the percentage of women who breast-feed.

The bill was written after a clerk at a Victoria's Secret store in Mount Pleasant last year suggested that a woman go to a bathroom to nurse her child.

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