Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9501030022
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But a new law abolishing parole, which takes effect today, is far from simple. Here is a basic summary of how the system will work, taken from the 44-page crime bill passed in September by the General Assembly:
Parole will be abolished for everyone convicted of a felony committed on or after Jan. 1.
A sentencing commission - composed of the state attorney general, judges, legislators and citizens - will develop a system of voluntary sentencing guidelines for judges.
Virginia now has sentencing guidelines based on the average sentences imposed for all offenses over the past five years. The new guidelines will be different in that they will be based on the actual time served over the past five years, after parole is taken into account.
Because the new guidelines will be based on time served and not sentences imposed under the old parole system, sentences under the new system will be shorter - but with a big difference. Without parole, all inmates will serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. With parole, they averaged about 30 percent.
Judges will not be forced to follow the guidelines, which will consist of a low and high sentence and a midpoint. But they must file a report explaining their reasons if they depart from the recommended range of punishment.
Nonviolent, first-time offenders will end up serving about the same amount of time under the new system as they did before. For example, someone sentenced to four years for a first-time charge of selling cocaine might have been paroled under the old system after serving 10 months. Under the new system, the sentence would be 10 months.
For violent and repeat offenders, the potential punishment will increase by up to 500 percent. Those calculations will be based on the midpoint range defined by the guidelines - in other words, the average time served over the past five years for a certain offense, enhanced 125 percent to 500 percent for aggravating factors such as the nature of the crime or the defendant's prior record.
Convictions of first- and second-degree murder, rape, forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual battery will carry sentences of 125 percent more than the midpoint sentence.
If someone convicted of those offenses has a prior violent offense punishable by less than 40 years, the midpoint sentence will be increased 300 percent. If an offender has a prior violent offense punishable by more than 40 years, the sentence will increase 500 percent.
Convictions for robbery, aggravated malicious wounding, malicious wounding, voluntary manslaughter and burglary will carry sentences of 100 percent more than the midpoint. For an offender with a prior violent offense punishable by less than 40 years, the sentence will go up 300 percent. For an offender with a prior violent offense punishable by more than 40 years, the sentence will increase 500 percent.
Convicted drug dealers with prior violent felony convictions punishable by less than 40 years will serve 200 percent more time. Those with more serious prior violent felonies will serve 400 percent more time.
For all other felonies, the midpoint will be increased by 100 percent for offenders with a prior violent conviction punishable by less than 40 years, and 300 percent for those convicted of a violent offense that carries more than 40 years.
The sentencing commission will develop a risk-assessment program to screen nonviolent offenders and determine if they are eligible for alternatives to incarceration. Among the suggested alternatives: work camps, house arrest, electronic surveillance and community service.
As many as half of the nonviolent offenders will be diverted to alternative programs.
Parole still will exist for two groups of prisoners. Those imprisoned for crimes that happened before Jan. 1 will remain eligible for parole. And the new law also contains a geriatric clause. Under that clause, inmates who turn 65 after serving at least five years of their sentence, or those who turn 60 after serving 10 years, will be eligible for parole.
by CNB