Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 30, 1994 TAG: 9403300075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ROANOKE LENGTH: Medium
Judge Glen Conrad ruled in favor of Jennifer West, 23, a Charlottesville waitress who challenged the program after spending nearly a year at the Virginia Correctional Center for Women for a drug conviction.
Had she been sent to the boot camp, she would have been out in three months.
"We're happy with the ruling," said Deborah Wyatt of Charlottesville, West's attorney. "We hope this will create a different mindset in Virginia."
West did not immediately return phone calls from The Associated Press.
Mark Miner, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said lawyers for the state were reviewing the ruling and could not comment.
Conrad agreed with West's contention that the boot camp program violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. He scheduled an April 25 hearing on a motion to certify the lawsuit as a class action on behalf of all women and to consider possible remedies, Wyatt said.
"We're seeking to change the system so women coming down the line won't be treated more severely than men who can go to the boot camp," Wyatt said.
Conrad had indicated at a hearing last month that he might rule in West's favor. He said the state "may have jumped the gun" when it decided to admit only men to the five-year pilot program that began in 1991.
Assistant Attorney General Pamela Sargent said 28 states have prison boot camps or are starting them, and all but eight exclude women.
The boot camp is for felons, ages 18 to 24 at the time of the offense, who are determined to be nonviolent offenders with no prior incarceration as an adult. The program, which includes physical and academic training, vocational assessment and drug abuse education, is seen as a way to reduce prison crowding and repeated criminal behavior.
After 90 days in the military-style camp, participants are released and placed on probation for at least a year.
West was released on parole after serving 357 days in prison. She will be on probation until 1999.
by CNB