SC panel softening lynching law, says it is abused
Published: Monday, January 11, 2010 at 5:07 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, January 11, 2010 at 5:07 p.m.
COLUMBIA — A South Carolina panel says the state's lynching law needs to be softened because it is being misused.
The South Carolina Sentencing Reform Commission approved the change Monday as it discussed dozens of changes in criminal penalties ranging from the state's lynching law to no longer automatically suspending the driver's license of a convicted drug offender.
Legislators on the panel said the lynching law is abused and people face prison time for bar fights. State Rep. Murrell Smith of Sumter said the law was never intended to be used that way.
The panel's proposals also would change the name of the law, renaming it assault and battery by a mob.
The commission is led by legislators who would help move the changes through the Legislature.
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