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by WILL FOLKS
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A South Carolina bill that would permit judges to bypass mandatory minimum prison sentences in certain situations is dead for the year after multiple attempts to revive it in the House of Representatives failed.
H. 3597 – sponsored by liberal “Republican” Robby Robbins – would have given South Carolina judges the power to reduce sentences for inmates who provide “substantial assistance” to the state in its investigations and prosecutions – or who come to the aid of correctional employees “in danger of being seriously injured or killed.”
Per the bill, judges would have been granted near-total discretion in reducing sentences in these circumstances – including mandatory minimum sentences imposed on murderers and other violent criminals.
“A defendant sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence is eligible for a reduction in his sentence below the mandatory minimum in the discretion of the judge,” the bill noted.
If this language sounds familiar to our audience, it should…
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Three years ago, a backroom deal between a retiring judge, powerful lawyer-legislator and veteran prosecutor secretively sprung a gang leader and convicted killer from the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC) – even though the inmate had more than a decade-and-a-half remaining on his “mandatory minimum” sentence.
To recap: Bloods gang leader Jeroid J. Price was convicted of murder in 2003 for the gang-related nightclub shooting of Carl Smalls – a football player at the University of North Carolina. The shooting occurred at Club Voodoo in Columbia on December 7, 2002 following a dispute on the dance floor.
Price was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison by former S.C. circuit court judge Reggie Lloyd. His sentence was affirmed by the S.C. supreme court in 2006, meaning he was supposed to remain behind bars until 2038 – consistent with South Carolina’s mandatory minimums on murder convictions.
In 2023, though, retiring circuit court judge Casey Manning, powerful lawyer-legislator Todd Rutherford and embattled prosecutor Byron Gipson secretly negotiated to secure Price’s release based on reports that he provided aid to a correctional officer in distress.
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RELATED | APPEALS COURT DENIES JEROID PRICE’S PETITION
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After the state supreme court vacated Manning’s extra-legal, unconstitutional directive – Price fled from justice. However, he was apprehended 78 days later in New York and returned to SCDC custody.
This backroom deal was exclusively exposed by this media outlet – and the ensuing uproar revived calls for reform of South Carolina’s badly broken judicial system.
Sadly, those calls have gone unheeded…
Gipson was targeted for impeachment for his role in the scandal – but “Republicans” in the House refused to take action against him. Instead, they advanced Robbins’ bill – which is also sponsored by powerful judiciary chairman Weston Newton and speaker pro tempore Tommy Pope.
According to our sources, inmates in the SCDC system have been closely monitoring the status of H. 3597, hoping it would prompt a mass exodus due to a sudden surge in “cooperation.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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