THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240515
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
Amid a carefully orchestrated display of bipartisan and biracial support, GOP Gov. George F. Allen on Tuesday warned Democratic lawmakers that they risk public wrath if they delay abolishing parole and reforming sentencing.
``What the people of Virginia and I will not tolerate is delay,'' Allen said as he accepted the 79-page document outlining his parole commission's plan for ending parole, lengthening prison sentences for violent offenders, and making prisoners serve up to 85 percent of their sentences.
Responding to hints that some in the General Assembly's Democratic majority would like to postpone action beyond a special legislative session beginning Sept. 19, he admonished: ``They need to understand, there's folks watching.'' Virginians ``are sick and tired of this system. They want us to act.''
Allen's tough talk came as two prominent Democratic lawmakers - Del. Glenn R. Croshaw of Virginia Beach and Sen. Virgil H. Goode Jr. of Rocky Mount - agreed to join two Republican lawmakers as chief sponsors of the legislation.
There were other signs of a broadening coalition of support. Despite NAACP opposition, the two African-American members of Allen's parole commission - Richmond City Manager Robert Bobb and Virginia Supreme Court Justice Leroy Hassell - voiced strong support of the plan, and Democratic sheriffs from Culpeper and Sussex County testified on its behalf.
Most voices of opposition were muted as the parole commission wound up its work with a marathon three-hour session, including political speeches, appearances by crime victims and a statistical slide show.
``My reaction is, there's no hope for anyone in prison,'' said Jean Auldrigh, director of Virginia CURE (Citizens United for the Rehabilitations of Errants) after the session. Auldrigh said she's concerned that people who have repented of their crimes will get no special consideration without parole, and that prisons will become more dangerous without the parole outlet.
In a statement, Democratic Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer Jr. commended the commission but added that crime will not be stopped without a broad plan focusing on juvenile justice, law enforcement and stronger communities.
Noting that more than 18,000 babies were born to unwed teenage mothers in Virginia last year, Beyer said: ``Parole reform alone will not prevent the next generation of Virginians from turning to crime.''
Del. James F. Almand, D-Arlington, who heads a legislative study group on parole and also sat on the Allen commission, said he believes his legislative group will have an alternate proposal when the Assembly convenes. ``It's not that the legislature is opposed to the (Allen) plan,'' Almand said, suggesting that the governor's proposal will be the framework for any changes that are adopted.
But, he said, his group ``wants to study the plan, make it better, make sure we can afford it.'' One concern, he said, is that the Allen commission's plan might send some criminals back into the community too quickly.
The Allen proposal would shorten most sentences currently being handed out but would increase by as much as seven times the amount of time actually being served. Through parole and good-time procedures, prisoners today may serve as little as one-sixth of the sentence.
However, extremely dangerous criminals can be kept in prison for the bulk of their sentences, and, in some cases, that might be longer than under the Allen revisions, Almand said.
State Sen. Stanley C. Walker, D-Norfolk, formerly head of the state crime commission, also warned that the commission's decision to rely heavily on double-bunking to house prisoners could have dangerous consequences.
``If you're going to toughen things up, you're also going to have to beef up your security,'' Walker warned, noting that the state moved away from double-bunking several years ago, partly because of security concerns.
But state officials said the commission's plan would add only 3,000 additional prisoners in the next decade to a system that already is slated to double by the year 2005. The public will have to bear much of the expanded prison costs, whether or not the Allen changes are made, they said.
Officials estimate that the plan will add $250 million in construction costs and about $600 million in additional operating costs over the next decade.
The plan, which would end parole for anyone convicted after Jan. 1, would have its greatest impact on the prison population in its second decade and beyond.
In a telephone interview, Democrat Goode said he hopes partisanship won't be part of next month's debate. ``I don't see anything partisan about it,'' he said. ``This is the way to get those most likely to be repeat violent offenders to stay in prison longer.''
Croshaw, the other Democratic sponsor, said he might get some criticism from fellow party members but that ``this issue is way too important to politicize. . . The work they've done convinces me this is something Virginians want and Virginians deserve.''
Republican sponsors of the legislation will be Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle of Virginia Beach and Del. J. Randy Forbes of Chesapeake. ILLUSTRATION: [Fast Fax box]
Allen going on TV
Gov. George F. Allen will defend his plan for abolishing parole
before a national television audience tonight when he appears on
``Larry King Live'' on the Cable News Network.
Allen is slated to join King for about 40 minutes of the show,
which starts at 9 p.m.
Other scheduled guests include Virginia crime victim Janet McGrath;
John Flannery of Virginia CURE (Citizens United for the
Rehabilitations of Errants) and Nathan McCall, a reporter for The
Washington Post who reformed his life after being paroled for a
murder conviction. McCall formerly worked as a reporter for The
Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
KEYWORDS: PAROLE REFORM by CNB