THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, August 13, 1994              TAG: 9408130286
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: By TONY GERMANOTTA, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   63 lines

BILL HAD SOMETHING TO BOTHER ALL REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE LOCAL AREA EACH FOUND FAULT WITH SOME ASPECT.

The anti-crime bill that failed in the House on Thursday had something for everyone - to find fault with, it seems.

Only one of the six lawmakers representing Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina voted to bring the administration's get-tough package up for a vote.

And even the lone supporter, Eva Clayton, a Democrat representing northeastern North Carolina, wasn't thrilled with the package.

``I voted for the crime bill,'' she said, ``because it had more positive features to fight crime in our communities than it had troubling provisions.''

For Owen Pickett, D-2nd, who represents Virginia Beach and parts of Norfolk, the bill ``took too much money away from proven and effective crime-control programs in favor of new and untried `soft programs.' ''

``Midnight sports leagues and child-centered activities may play a part in crime prevention, but it is not what the public has in mind as the way to end crime and violence in our communities, Pickett said.

Norman Sisisky, a Democrat whose 4th District includes parts of Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk, wants a better bill.

``There were parts of it that I don't think will have the effect of reducing crime,'' he said. ``We now have the opportunity to revise it and get the changes made that will make it a more effective bill.''

Herbert H. Bateman, a Republican whose 1st District stretches through the Peninsula and the Eastern Shore, found too little prevention or punishment.

``It's not a tough crime bill,'' he said. ``It is a social spending bill.''

H. Martin Lancaster, a Democrat representing northeastern North Carolina's 3rd District, said that he wanted to remove such provisions as an assault weapons ban and several billion dollars of spending.

``There are lots of really good things in it,'' Lancaster said, ``but it just got larded up in the conference committee with questionable programs and questionable spending, and we hope that that's going to be addressed before they bring it back to us.''

Robert C. Scott, the 3rd District Democrat who represents parts of Norfolk, Portsmouth and the Peninsula, was bothered most by the removal of a provision prohibiting discrimination in executions.

``Racial discrimination is rampant in the application of the death penalty,'' Scott said. ``Studies have shown that the major factor in determining who gets to live and who gets to die at the end of a capital trial is race.''

The bill would also try as adults 13-year-olds accused of violent crimes, he said, and create 60 new categories of death-penalty offenses.

That could lead to a greater need for a racial justice bill, he said.

``If you're on death row because of racial discrimination,'' Scott said, ``that's wrong.'' ILLUSTRATION: AFTERMATH OF THE CRIME BILL

[Color Photos on page A1 with quotes from local representatatives]

KEYWORDS: ANTI-CRIME BILL CRIME by CNB