S 1146 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S 1146 General Bill, By McConnell and Giese
Similar(H 4632)
A BILL TO AMEND CHAPTER 17, TITLE 16, OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976, RELATING TO OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC POLICY, BY ADDING ARTICLE 9 SO AS TO
ENACT THE "SOUTH CAROLINA GANG VIOLENCE ACT" WHICH PROHIBITS CERTAIN CONDUCT
IN REGARD TO GANG VIOLENCE AND ACTIVITY AND WHICH PROVIDES CERTAIN PENALTIES
FOR VIOLATIONS OF THESE PROHIBITIONS.
03/26/98 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-3
03/26/98 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-3
A BILL
TO AMEND CHAPTER 17, TITLE 16, OF THE CODE OF LAWS
OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO OFFENSES
AGAINST PUBLIC POLICY, BY ADDING ARTICLE 9 SO AS TO
ENACT THE "SOUTH CAROLINA GANG VIOLENCE
ACT" WHICH PROHIBITS CERTAIN CONDUCT IN
REGARD TO GANG VIOLENCE AND ACTIVITY AND WHICH
PROVIDES CERTAIN PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF
THESE PROHIBITIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 17, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding :
"Article 9
South Carolina Gang Violence Act
Section 16-17-800. This article may be cited as the `South
Carolina Gang Violence Act.'
Section 16-17-810. As used in this article:
(A) The phrase `criminal gang' means an ongoing group, club,
organization, or association, whether formal or informal, of three or
more persons, including persons within adult correctional institutions
or juvenile detention facilities or correctional facilities, and in
engaging in two or more of the following:
(1) criminal activity which may or may not involve the
commission of one or more predicate gang crimes;
(2) having a common name or identifying sign or symbol; or
(3) any members of which engage, or have engaged during the
five year period preceding the date in question, in a pattern of
criminal gang activity.
(B) The phrase 'criminal gang member' means a person who is a
member of a criminal gang as defined in subsection (A) and who
meets two or more of the following criteria:
(1) admits to criminal street gang membership;
(2) is identified as a criminal street gang member by a parent or
guardian;
(3) is identified as a criminal gang member by a documented
reliable informant;
(4) resides in or frequents a particular criminal street gang's area
and adopts their style of dress, their use of hand signs, or their tattoos,
and associates with known criminal gang members;
(5) is identified as a criminal gang member by an informant of
previously untested reliability and such identification is corroborated
by independent information;
(6) has been arrested more than once in the company of
identified criminal gang members for offenses which are consistent
with a pattern of criminal gang activity;
(7) is identified as a criminal gang member by physical
evidence such as photographs or other documentation;
(8) has been stopped in the company of known criminal gang
members four or more times;
(9) is identified by other law enforcement or correctional
agencies in or out of the State of South Carolina; and
(10) is identified by a victim of a predicate gang crime and such
identification is corroborated by independent information.
(C) The term 'minor' means a person who is less than seventeen
years of age.
(D) The phrase `pattern of criminal street gang activity' means the
commission of, or a sustained juvenile petition for, two or more
predicate gang crimes committed in connection with, or in
furtherance of, the activities of a criminal street gang:
(1) at least one of which was committed on or after the effective
date of the South Carolina Gang Violence Act; and
(2) the first of which was committed not more than five years
before the commission of another predicate gang crime.
(E) The phrase 'predicate gang crime' means an offense, including
an act of juvenile delinquency that would be an offense if committed
by an adult, that is:
(1) a South Carolina offense:
(a) that is a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60;
(b) that involves the sale, offer for sale, possession for sale or
with the intent to distribute, transportation, manufacture, or offer to
manufacture controlled substances in violation of Sections 44-53-370
through 44-53-470, and 44-53-577;
(c) that is a violation of Chapter 19, Title 16 (Gambling and
Lotteries);
(d) that is a violation of Article 4, Chapter 9, Title 16
(Offenses Against Public Justice);
(e) that is a violation of:
(i) Section 44-53-475 (Financial transactions and
narcotics, money laundering);
(ii) Section 16-3-210 (Lynching, First Degree);
(iii) Section 16-3-220 (Lynching, Second Degree);
(ix) Article 27, Chapter 3, Title 17 (Harassment and
Stalking);
(x) Section 16-3-1040 (Threatening a public official);
(xi) Section 16-17-420 (Disturbing schools);
(xii) Section 16-3-612 (Assault and battery against a
school official);
(xiii) Section 16-3-625 (Resisting Arrest with a Deadly
Weapon;
(ix) Section 16-3-630 (Assault upon a Correctional
Facility Employee);
(x) Section 24-13-470 (Throwing or Attempting to
Throw Bodily Fluids on a Correctional Employee);
(xi) the common law offense of Aggravated Assault;
(xii) the common law offense of Assault and Battery of a
High and Aggravated Nature;
(xii) the common law offense of strong armed robbery;
(xiv) Chapter 23, Title 16 (Offenses Involving Weapons);
(xv) Section 16-13-30(B) (Grand Larceny);
(xvi) Section 16-21-80 (Receiving, possessing, concealing,
selling, or disposing of stolen vehicle);
(xvii) Section 16-7-10 (Offenses Committed during State
of Emergency declared by the Governor);
(xviii) Section 16-17-640 (Blackmail and Extortion);
(xix) Section 16-11-520 (Malicious injury to real
property);
(xx) Section 16-11-530 (Malicious injury to real
property);
(xxi) Section 16-3-1075 (Carjacking);
(xxii) Section 16-17-490 (Contributing to the delinquency
of a minor); or
(f) any other violation of the South Carolina Code of Laws
if it can be documented through evidence, self admission, information
provided by a parent or guardian, a documented reliable informant,
or an informant of previously untested reliability which is
corroborated by independent information, to be committed:
(i) in relation to a criminal gang;
(ii) as the result of a solicitation, request, inducement,
counsel or command of an identified criminal gang member; or
(iii) for the purpose of gaining, or initiating a person into,
criminal gang membership.
(2) an offense in another jurisdiction involving conduct that
would constitute an offense under item (1) if South Carolina
jurisdiction existed or had been exercised; or
(3) a conspiracy, attempt, or solicitation to commit an offense
described in item (1) or (2).
Section 16-17-820. Any person who engages in a pattern of
criminal gang activity is guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced:
(1) for a first offense, to a term of imprisonment of not less than
ten years and not more than life or fined in the discretion of the
court, or both; and
(2) for a second or subsequent offense, to a term of
imprisonment of not less than twenty years and not more than life or
fined in the discretion of the court, or both.
Section 16-7-830. (A) It shall be unlawful for any person to:
(1) recruit, solicit, request, induce, counsel, command, or cause
another person to be a member of a criminal street gang, or conspire
to do so, or cause another to do so; or
(2) recruit, solicit, request, induce, counsel, command, or cause
another person to engage in a predicate gang crime for which such
person may be prosecuted in a court of the State of South Carolina,
or conspire to do so.
(B) A person who violates subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and
shall:
(1) if the person recruited:
(a) is a minor, be imprisoned for a term of not less than four
years and not more than ten years or fined in the discretion of the
court, or both; or
(b) is not a minor, be imprisoned for a term of not less than
one year and not more than ten years or fined in the discretion of the
court, or both; and
(2) be liable for any costs incurred by the state or any local
government for housing, maintaining, and treating the minor until the
minor reaches the age of seventeen.
Section 16-17-840. A person who is convicted of a predicate
gang crime or any other statutory or common law crime and who is
identified as a criminal gang member shall be imprisoned for an
additional term of not less than one year and not more than five years
or fined in the discretion of the court, or both.
Section 16-17-850. For purposes of law enforcement
identification and tracking only:
(A) 'Criminal gang member' has the same meaning as provided in
Section 16-17-810(A).
(B) 'Criminal gang associate' means a person who:
(1) admits to criminal street gang association; or
(2) meets any single defining criterion for criminal street gang
membership described in Section 16-17-810(B).
(C) 'Gang-related incident' means an incident that, upon
investigation, meets any of the following conditions:
(1) the participants are identified as criminal street gang
members or criminal street gang associates, acting, individually or
collectively, to further any criminal purpose of the gang;
(2) a reliable informant identifies an incident as criminal street
gang activity; or
(3) an informant of previously untested reliability identifies an
incident as criminal street gang activity and it is corroborated by
independent information."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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