Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 14, 1995 TAG: 9510150009
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One week after a commission appointed by Gov. George Allen recommended revamping Virginia's juvenile justice system to make it tougher on young offenders, a legislative panel released findings Friday that raised questions about the plan's support among both the public and criminal justice experts.
The Commission on Youth's Juvenile Justice Task Force, which was appointed by the General Assembly, released a public opinion poll showing that most Virginians favor rehabilitation over punishment when it comes to treating juvenile crime.
That sentiment was reflected in some of the 56 draft recommendations endorsed Friday by the Commission on Youth task force - putting it at odds with the governor's panel on how best to deal with increasing crime by juveniles.
One of the key recommendations of the governor's commission, headed by Attorney General Jim Gilmore, was to make adult trials mandatory for all juveniles 14 and older charged with violent crimes.
But the Commission on Youth task force, under the guidance of Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, decided Friday not to recommend changes to the state's transfer law, which gives juvenile court judges the discretion to send offenders 14 and older to Circuit Court for an adult trial.
Jones cited the poll's findings in suggesting that Allen may be mistaken when he says the public wants a juvenile justice system that will crack down on what he calls "young thugs" and "predators" in Virginia.
"It seems the political rhetoric might be a little out of touch with opinions of the people," Jones said.
Both groups are expected to make final recommendations in December for the 1996 General Assembly to consider.
The poll, conducted by the Virginia Commonwealth University Survey Research Laboratory for the legislative task force, showed that 63 percent of the respondents said the main purpose of the juvenile court system should be to rehabilitate.
Twenty-three percent of the respondents said the main purpose should be to punish, and 11 percent said both. The remainder had no opinion. The telephone survey, which questioned 811 adults in late September, has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Although most respondents believed that it should be possible to prosecute juveniles as adults, 80 percent believed that judges, not prosecutors, should decide which offenders should go to adult courts.
At a meeting in Richmond, the Commission on Youth task force also released the results of a survey given to nearly 2,000 judges, prosecutors, public defenders, police chiefs, school principals and court officials in Virginia.
The survey found that 68 percent of the respondents said the decision on whether to transfer juveniles to Circuit Court for adult trial should not be made by prosecutors.
Those who opposed such a change cited concerns that prosecutors might be affected by public opinion or pressures from the media, that it could result in inconsistent prosecution of similar offenses across the state.
Fifty-six percent of the respondents did not believe that the minimum age at which a juvenile can be tried as an adult should be changed from 14.
Gilmore's commission had proposed giving prosecutors the power to seek adult trials for juveniles younger than 14.
Other recommendations endorsed Friday by Jones' commission included: finding ways to combat truancy, which often is seen as the first indication of juvenile delinquency; expanding community-based alternatives to incarceration; and allowing judges to keep serious offenders in juvenile correctional centers until they are 25. Under current law, juvenile offenders can be held only until their 21st birthday.
Some information in this story came from the Associated Press.
by CNB