State of South Carolina Archives: on Crime
Alvin Greene:
Supports capital punishment
Q: Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? A: Yes.
Q: Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related training and job-placement assistance when released?
A: Yes.
Source: S.C. Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test
Oct 1, 2010
Brad Hutto:
Supports capital punishment
Q: Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes??A: Yes.
Q: Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment??
A: Yes.
Source: S.C. Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
Nov 1, 2012
Henry McMaster:
Prosecuted sex predators, prostitution, and fraud
- 2005: Declared Criminal Domestic Violence SC's #1 Crime: Worked with victim's advocates to enhance the law and create special courts in 36 counties, producing thousands of convictions.
- 2004: Created Internet Sex Predator
(ICAC) Task Force: Wrote the law banning the use of the Internet by child sex predators, trained network of 50 law enforcement agencies which have arrested hundreds of these criminals, with a 100% conviction rate.
- 2003:
Investigated and Prosecuted HomeGold case: Wrote the law to investigate securities fraud, then convicted all six architects of the HomeGold and Carolina Investors who defrauded thousands.
- 2010: Challenged Craigslist over prostitution
ads, resulting in the removal of those ads nationwide.
- 2010: Expanded State Grand Jury, to assist in convicting gang members, securities fraud, and environmental crimes.
Source: 2010 S.C. Gubernatorial campaign website HenryMcMaster.com
Jan 11, 2017
James Emerson Smith:
Supports death penalty; ending parole; and more prisons
Smith indicates support of the following principles concerning crime.- Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and for hiring of additional prison staff.
- Support the death penalty in South Carolina.
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Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- End parole for repeat violent offenders.
- Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
- Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth.
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Increase funding for state and local emergency agencies to prevent and to respond to terrorist attacks.
- Allow police to ticket motorists for not wearing their safety belts, even if they have committed no other traffic violation.
Source: VoteSmart S.C. 2004 National Political Awareness Test
Nov 1, 2004
Joe Biden:
1994 Crime bill had community policing and crime went down
It provided for community policing, not community policing--go out and arresting people and throwing them up against walls. Community policing where you put two policemen in a car, the cops didn't want to do it, and they had to get out of the cars and
go and understand the neighborhoods. They had to leave their cell phone numbers with the local grocer, with the local church, with the local--if you have a problem, call me. And so crime went down. Violent crime was cut in half.
We should change the whole prison system from one of punishment to rehabilitation. Nobody should go to jail for drug use. They should be put in rehabilitation. Mandatory rehabilitation. Secondly, anybody in prison, anybody in prison should be
learning a trade, should be being taught something. If you can't read, write, add and subtract, you should be able to learn that in prison. And when you get out you should be able to qualify for every federal program across the board.
Source: CNN S.C. Town Hall on eve of 2020 primary
Feb 26, 2020
Mark Sanford:
End parole for repeat violent offenders
Indicate which principles you support to address crime. - Support contracting with private sector firms to build and/or manage state prisons.
- Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills.
- End parole for
repeat violent offenders.
- Require all felons serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.
- Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
Source: 2002 S.C. Gubernatorial National Political Awareness Test
Nov 1, 2002
Mike Bloomberg:
Makeup of police department should reflect city population
Q: What about racial issues on the New York City Police Department? BLOOMBERG: I made sure that our police department is a majority minority as is the city.
Q: You wanted the police department to reflect the demographics of the city?
BLOOMBERG: That's exactly right, reflect is the exact right word; because you want people to think that the cops understand them, their culture, and whatever.
That doesn't mean you're going to find somebody that you have a lot in common with every time you meet a police officer. But if 1/10 of 1% of the citizens of New York come from
Egypt, 1/10 of 1% of our police department would come from Egypt. The only place we don't mirror the population exactly is men and women because the city is 50/50 roughly and only about 35% of the police department are female.
Source: CNN S.C. Town Hall on eve of 2020 primary
Feb 26, 2020
Nikki Haley:
Restore funding for Law Enforcement DNA lab
Our budget strengthened the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. We have restored funding to our DNA lab, so that SLED can clear the backlogs. We have increased the number of SLED agents, equipment, and their technology budget.
And we've brought Chief Mark Keel home, where he belongs, so that SLED can return, quickly, to its intended mission: Serving the sheriffs and chiefs across South Carolina.
Source: 2012 S.C. State of the State Address
Jan 18, 2012
Tom Steyer:
I've worked to end private prisons in my state
Joe BIDEN [to Steyer]: My good friend on the end of this platform, he bought a private prison system, after he knew that what happened was, they hog-tied young men in prison here in this state.Tom STEYER: I bought stock in a
prison company thinking they would do a better job. And I investigated. And I sold it.
BIDEN: But you when you bought it they'd done that.
STEYER: Since then, I have worked to end the use of private prisons in my home state, and we have ended it.
Source: 10th Democratic Primary debate on eve of S.C. primary
Feb 25, 2020
Henry McMaster:
Keep career criminals behind bars & carry out executions
Law enforcement needs our help. They need stronger laws to keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals and juveniles, and new laws to "close the revolving door" and keep career criminals behind bars and not out on bond. That means no bond for
repeat criminals. Those who commit a crime while out on bond will receive an automatic mandatory five-year felony sentence with no early release or parole--on top of the sentence for their previous crimes.
We have no means to carry out a death sentence in South Carolina--and the murderers know it. The Department of Corrections has been unable to carry out the death penalty by lethal injection since 2011 because the companies which make the drugs
will not sell them unless their identities are shielded by state law from anti-death penalty activists. I ask the General Assembly again: pass a shield law. We must give these grieving families and loved ones the justice and closure they are owed by law.
Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the S.C. legislature
Jan 25, 2023
Henry McMaster:
Expand operations against animal fighting with new agents
Animal fighting, especially dog fighting, is one of the cruelest criminal activities in our society. In September 2022, a SLED agent was dedicated to combating animal fighting. Shortly thereafter, the agent helped execute one of the "biggest takedowns
of a dogfighting operation in South Carolina history," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. This Executive Budget expands upon this success by recommending $566,000 to hire three additional SLED agents dedicated to animal fighting.
Source: 2024 State of the State Address to the S.C. legislature
Jan 24, 2024
Henry McMaster:
End the unforgivable savagery of animal fighting
Animal fighting, especially dog fighting, is one of the cruelest criminal activities in our society. Law officers estimate that most of the people participating in this
barbaric activity have long criminal records. My Executive Budget seeks additional funding to SLED to end this unforgivable savagery.
Source: 2025 State of the State Address to the S.C. legislature
Jan 29, 2025
Jermaine Johnson:
Mental health teams to de-escalate crises not needing police
Jermaine would raise the salaries for and hire additional state and local law enforcement officers around the state to ensure the safety of all South Carolinians. Jermaine would also ensure that there are mental health response teams trained
to handle the de-escalation of crises that don't need armed police intervention, so that those officers can focus on preventing crimes and keeping neighborhoods safe. Police do their job best when they have trust and buy in from their communities.
Source: 2026 S.C. Gubernatorial campaign website JohnsonForSC.com
Jan 6, 2026
Jermaine Johnson:
It is time to pass a hate crimes law in South Carolina
It is time to pass a hate crimes law in South Carolina. Our state is one of only two in the nation that does not have any hate crime legislation.
This is not about black and white but about protecting the lives and dignity of all South Carolinians.
Source: 2026 S.C. Gubernatorial campaign website JohnsonForSC.com
Jan 6, 2026
Page last updated: Feb 07, 2026