ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Criminals serving time in state prisons could soon be getting "get out of jail free" passes.
South Carolina just passed a law that will allow inmates not deemed a security risk to leave prison to attend a funeral or be by the hospital bedside of the people they love.
The Department of Corrections officials had some concerns, when you're talking about inmates paying their respects, well, that could be right out in the open, saying this could be a safety issue.
LeTanya Williams spent two years locked up.
“If my mom would have passed away or deathly ill or whatever, I would have appreciated the opportunity to go see her because that could have been the turnaround for me,” she said.
Williams saw what happened when people didn’t get the chance to say goodbye.
“Not being able to have seen them for the last time could have just continued to trigger the same lifestyle that I was living,” she said.
Under the new law, officers would have to guard the criminal for the funeral. And victims have to be warned that the offender will be temporarily free.
Williams got out nearly a decade ago and founded a nonprofit that helps other women transitioning out of prison life and into the real world.
“We can become,” Williams said “I am a productive person in society. I’m a small business owner, a mother, a grandmother.”
She understands that there are some inmates who shouldn't have a "get out of jail free" pass until their sentence is over. But says there are some who deserve to close a chapter. And start another.