This Sunday marks one year since we lost Logan Federico.

For one of us, she was his daughter, a little girl grown into a beautiful young woman, and for him, along with his wife Melissa and his son Jacob, this is a fight they are facing together as a family. For the other, she represents a promise we must keep to every family in South Carolina.

Logan is more than a headline. She was a daughter, a friend, a young woman with her entire life ahead of her. She had a future full of promise and people who loved her deeply. That is what was taken.

She came to South Carolina to spend time with people she loved.

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Instead, she was killed, brutally and unnecessarily, in an act of violence allegedly carried out by a man who had been in and out of prison for years with a lengthy rap sheet.

Let’s call this tragedy what it was. Let’s not shrink from the horror.

According to police reports he broke into a home and stole an innocent life. He is responsible for his evil, deranged behavior. But the system failed to stop him, and that failure cost a family everything.

One year later, that loss does not fade. It does not get easier. But it does demand something of all of us. It demands action.

That is why we are fighting to fix the system: to close the loopholes, reform the judicial process, and slam the revolving door on career criminals.

It’s about fixing the failures that allow individuals with a long criminal record and multiple prior encounters with the justice system to continue endangering innocent people. Due to antiquated, outdated methods of keeping court and criminal records, and critical breakdowns in how information was tracked and shared, decision-makers did not have the full picture.

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That can never happen again. It should have never happened in the first place.

We must ensure law enforcement agencies from different jurisdictions, judges, and prosecutors have complete, accurate criminal histories before making decisions that affect someone’s freedom. It is necessary and common sense. And it is long overdue.

If we are serious about protecting our communities, we must take a harder look at sentencing and rehabilitation. Too often, repeat offenders are treated like first-time offenders. Charges are reduced. Sentences are light.

And then they are released and, in some cases, go on to hurt people again.

That is not compassion. That is failure.

Our system must recognize patterns of violent behavior and respond with consequences that protect innocent people.

We also need real judicial reform.

Judges make decisions every day that determine whether someone walks free or is held accountable. Those decisions must be rooted in transparency, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to public safety.

We cannot ignore the growing push toward eliminating cash bail.

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Bail is not about convenience. It is about safety. It exists to ensure that individuals who pose a danger are not released back into our communities before trial.

Anyone who poses a threat to innocent lives should not be released. Period.

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Logan Federico should still be alive. This weekend should not be an anniversary. We should not be mourning an innocent life lost. We should still be enjoying time with her.

Her family should not be living with this pain. No family should, and no other innocent life should ever be taken because the system failed to act.

This Sunday, we remember Logan. We honor her life and everything she meant to those who loved her.

But remembrance is not enough. If we truly want to honor her, we must act.

Stephen Federico is the proud father of Logan Federico.