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South Carolina congressmen have introduced a bill that would create a registry of people who have been convicted of violent crimes.

In the News Congress considering law that would create a "violent criminal offender" registry • The bill would require anyone convicted of a "violent" crime punishable by more than 6 months of imprisonment to register • The bill's definition of "violent offender" has the potential to include people who are engaging in mutual combat Bickerton Law Blog

Under the bill, anyone who has been convicted of a violent crime punishable by more than 180 days of incarceration would be included in the registry. The registry, which would be called the “Violent Criminal Offender Database” would be accessible to the public. If the law is passed, states that don’t implement it would lose certain federal grants.

Bickerton Law Blog Lawyer’s Take: 

“The interesting part of this bill is the definition of a violent crime. The bill would include any offense that ‘has an element [including] the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force against the person or property of another’ or ‘by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.’ Under Pennsylvania law, the definition of violent crime generally doesn’t include crimes against property alone. If this law is passed, there’s going to be some tension between our state’s definition of a crime of violence and the law’s definition of a crime of violence.

You also have to consider the law of unintended consequences. Right now, the overwhelming majority of cases are resolved through guilty pleas. If there’s a publicly accessible list of people who are being labeled violent criminals, you may see more defendants willing to pick a jury instead of taking a plea. Take the example of people who decide to get into a fist-fight. Although mutual combat is considered to be a third-degree misdemeanor simple assault, those fighters could be labeled violent criminals under the proposed law. In a case like that, those defendants may choose to take their chances with a jury to avoid that label.” —Lea Bickerton

Key takeaways:

  • The bill would require anyone convicted of a “violent” crime punishable by more than 6 months of imprisonment to register
  • The bill’s definition of “violent offender” has the potential to include people who are engaging in mutual combat

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