Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 18, 1992 TAG: 9201180134
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Staff and wire reports
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
TERRY SEEKS DRIVING SUSPENSIONS
Attorney General Mary Sue Terry said Friday she will push the General Assembly for tougher laws on drunken driving, gun sales and domestic violence.Announcing her legislative program for the 1992 session, Terry endorsed bills that would require the immediate suspension of the driver's license of anyone arrested for drunken driving. A similar bill died in the legislature last year.
Alleged drunken drivers now are allowed to keep their licenses until trial. Terry said she decided to push the bill this year because it takes almost three months for most defendants to come to trial.
Opponents of the measure contend it amounts to punishing people before they are convicted. Terry said 85 percent of those arrested for drunken driving are convicted, and keeping them off the road should have the highest priority.
Last year, there were about 49,000 arrests in Virginia for drunken driving, with 42,000 convictions.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia currently have procedures to automatically suspend driver's licenses.
Other bills in the Terry package would:
Require gun buyers to present two forms of identification showing a Virginia address. The legislation is aimed at stopping gun runners who use a false address to get a Virginia driver's license that they use for identification when buying guns.
Make it a misdemeanor to "stalk" people through systematic harassment and threats. Several proposals already on the table would make the offense a felony. Terry said she thought more convictions would result if the first offense were a misdemeanor rather than a felony.
Create a variety of incentives for economic development.
She said she was not trying to overshadow Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer, who has headed an economic development study commission and is pushing a package of bills of his own. Terry and Beyer are potential rivals for the Democratic nomination for governor next year.