Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 23, 1993 TAG: 9311230191
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
"If someone's in prison, that person can't commit more crimes. But violent crime overall has continued to increase" despite the federal government's no-parole policy and longer prison terms for violent offenders, said Gerald Gaes, director of research for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
"I don't think anything shows that mandatory minimum sentences deter crime," agreed Florida Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton Jr.
Their presentations to a legislative commission studying sentencing and parole reform may prove a precursor to debate in the 1994 General Assembly over Gov.-elect George Allen's proposal to abolish parole.
Several Democratic lawmakers on the Commission on Sentence and Parole Reform said after Monday's briefing that without higher taxes, there is no way Virginia can afford to implement tougher sentences along the lines of Florida's or the federal government's.
"We have to look at various scenarios and see how much they cost, and then look at the willingness to do it," said Del. James Almand, D-Arlington. "We don't have money to do a full-blown program with existing resources."
"It's like squeezing a balloon," said Sen. Joseph Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax County. "If you increase the sentences for some people, then you're going to have to reduce the sentences of others, because you can't pay for it all."
But several Republicans said it's all a matter of priority.
"We can afford to abolish parole for violent offenders . . . once we see the financial impact [not keeping them in prison has on] victims, the police and the prosecution," said Del. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake. "The public is afraid."
The commission is only beginning to study the issue; it must report its recommendations to the General Assembly by January 1995.
Allen has envisioned a plan to be phased in over 12 years. And he has promised to veto any general tax hike.
"Regardless of what the cost may be, we must reprioritize what our goals should be," said Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe. "Until we find a way of abolishing crime, we have an obligation of reforming these folks."
As if to reinforce Allen's commitment, Stroupe announced later Monday that Allen has named former U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Richard Cullen, former U.S. attorney for Virginia's Eastern District, to head a task force to develop a no-parole plan.
Gaes told the study panel that the federal prison population skyrocketed, from about 43,000 in 1987 when parole was abolished, to 89,000 in 1993.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons estimates there will be 119,000 federal inmates by the turn of the century, and that the system, which now costs $2.1 billion annually to run, will cost $3.6 billion per year by 1997.
Florida, which Eaton said has the sixth-highest incarceration rate in the nation - Virginia's is 18th - spent $1.3 billion last year on its prison system.
The Sunshine State has 46 prisons with 49,000 beds. In a year, there will be 60,000 inmates, Eaton said, with the system serving more meals than are served annually at Disney World.
Eaton urged Virginia lawmakers to beware of suggestions that "you can build your way out of the problem."
"You must look at crime prevention, and I'm not talking about putting bars up on the windows of houses, but getting at the root causes of crime," he said. "You cannot do that simply by doubling the size of your prison population, adding 100 new police officers or handing out stiffer sentences. You have to look at dysfunctional families, drug abuse and poverty problems."
by CNB