Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 15, 1992 TAG: 9203150194
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
"And of course," said Sheriff Andrew J. Winston, noting the dozens of inmates who already are sleeping on floors, "you have to be in sympathy with them."
So Winston, who is no stranger to the state's perpetual crisis of jail overcrowding, devised a novel response - a quick fix certain to send city officials scrambling for a long-term solution.
The sheriff made a list of 250 prisoners with two years or less to serve and asked local judges to consider releasing them. By Friday evening, about 40 had been told to pack their bags and head home.
In a city scrambling to defuse neighborhood crime and a soaring murder rate, announcement of last week's officially sanctioned "jail break" was as grating as fingernail scratches on a chalk board. Incensed city officials tried unsuccessfully in court to block the releases and then began scrambling for alternate solutions.
"In a community where we are trying to reduce crime and violence, it sends the wrong message," said City Manager Robert B. Bobb, who argued in court that "there's going to be community outrage."
Bobb acknowledges that conditions at Richmond's jail - which was designed for 729, has a state "rated capacity" of 882, and Thursday housed 1,355 - are crowded.
But in an interview, he argued: "We can't treat those in jail as if they are the victims. That is what is happening. The community is the victim."
"There are no hard and fast guidelines" to determine who stays in jail and who goes free, said U.S. District Judge R.B. Robertson, who Friday morning released about half of the 18 prisoners sent his way by Winston.
Those he turned down had extensive or recent prior convictions. The crimes of those released ranged from two cases of assault to petty larceny, trespassing and prostitution.
"You are going to get phone calls day and night," Robertson warned Shirl Stewart, 27, explaining that there will be regular monitoring of her whereabouts and that she is not to leave home.
"The first time you're not there the police are going to come to your house."
Stewart had served less than two months of a six-month sentence for prostitution - a crime that supports her drug habit, according to an uncle.
"In view of the circumstances at the jail, there should be an alternative such as the judge just ordered," said Eddie Edwards, Stewart's uncle.
Bobb agrees that there ought to be solutions, but says they should stop short of early release. On Friday, city officials and Winston toured a former state correctional work camp in New Kent County, which has been proposed as a possible overflow jail site.
Bobb said that his office has been unable to obtain a list of those released.
But he warned that he knows of one former inmate who, in speaking to a probation officer, has threatened since his release to kill a police officer. And he said he is concerned about the release of an inmate who has a history as a Peeping Tom.
"To us, it's irrelevant how much time is left on the sentence. If it's one day, it's too much," he said.
Others suggest that any danger is more imagined than real, because judges presumably will not release violent criminals. And they hint that politics is behind the "outrage" of city officials.
Winston acknowledged that the chief benefit of the early releases is the spotlight on overcrowding. "It has gotten attention," he said.
But asked if the departures end his problems, he added: "No indeed. Of those released, I would hazard one-third of them will be back within six months," he said.
by CNB