[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_video _builder_version=”4.2″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/prisonP1W-2.jpg” _builder_version=”4.2″ hover_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_margin=”10px|||” custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”4.2″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
A half dozen prison reform activists, wearing red and holding signs, stood under a tent in the rain Thursday in front of the South Carolina State House to lobby for sentencing changes, chanting, \u201cwe won\u2019t stop, we won\u2019t quit, we need these laws to be fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erica Fielder, founder of the Hearts For Inmates non-profit organization, said she\u2019s been a prison reform activist for nearly five years and hasn\u2019t been satisfied with lawmakers\u2019 efforts since. Fielder\u2019s husband is incarcerated and is a co-founder of the organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYear after year, they have given us the sense of something being done and year after year, absolutely nothing has been done,\u201d Fielder said. \u00a0Currently, offenders serving time for serious crimes such as manslaughter, kidnapping or armed robbery are required to serve 85% of their sentence to become eligible for parole.<\/p>\n
Last year, two S.C. House bills addressed prison reform but have been stagnant in the past few months. The legislation \u00a0would decrease the percentage of time served before an inmate could petition for release from 85% of time served to 65%.<\/p>\n
The South Carolina prison system has been under scrutiny since a massive prison riot in April 2018 that left seven inmates dead and 22 injured at the Lee County Correctional Institution. Gov. Henry McMaster has proposed spending an additional $129 million to make prisons safer and encourage more people to work there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, stopped by the tent and conversed with the activists while on his way into the State House.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times we kind of preach this mentality of being tough on crime until it affects you,\u201d Ott told the activists. Ott is not currently a sponsor of either bill, but he told the activists that he would solicit support from his constituents for both pieces of legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are creating more victims by not allowing this reform that they already have to move forward,\u201d Fielder said.<\/p>\n
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Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, speaks with a handful of prison reform activists outside of the State House as they ask for his support of two prison reform house bills.<\/p>\n
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Rally members hold up a sign that reads \u201cWE WON\u2019T QUIT\u201d and a wore a red shirt with the same slogan as they stand outside of the state house.<\/p>\n
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Prison reform rally signs with slogans such as \u201cWe won\u2019t stop,\u201d \u201cwe won\u2019t quit,\u201d \u201ctogether, we\u2019re strong,\u201d are on display under the Hearts for Inmates rally tent.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/prisonW4_JL.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image 4″ _builder_version=”4.2″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” always_center_on_mobile=”on”]<\/p>\n
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Prison reform activists, Hearts for Inmates, occupied the state house steps and spoke with Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, as he was entering the state house.<\/p>\n
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[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_video _builder_version=”4.2″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/prisonP1W-2.jpg” _builder_version=”4.2″ hover_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_margin=”10px|||” custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”4.2″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”] A half dozen prison reform activists, wearing red and holding signs, stood under a tent in the rain Thursday in front of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":261,"featured_media":30906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[39,68],"tags":[1559,126,1560],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30761"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/261"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30761"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34001,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30761\/revisions\/34001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}