Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 10, 1993 TAG: 9310100048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Terry told the state NAACP convention at Virginia Tech that she would order a study to see whether such racial disparities in sentencing exist and suggested judges be given training to avoid giving blacks tougher sentences than whites.
She also promised to set up a central point in state government to gather complaints about police brutality. "It's a very inexpensive way to provide opportunities for information to be gathered," the Democratic candidate said.
Allen said his plan to abolish parole would end many racial disparities in sentencing.
"Now juries sentence someone to 15 years because people want to make sure the person is going to get to serve 12, and they wind up with three. When we have 15-year sentences, that will mean 15 years. To the extent there is any disparity, that would eliminate any."
Now, the Republican candidate said, judges have too much leeway in deciding how long prisoners serve.
Otherwise, the candidates broke little new ground in their back-to-back appearances before the NAACP.
As a Democrat, Terry was on the friendliest turf. In Virginia, 90 percent or more blacks tend to give their ballots to Democrats, although there have been few signs this campaign season that AfricanAmericans are especially enthusiastic about Terry's candidacy.
Terry, in response to questions from a panel of journalists, touted her record of hiring minorities while she served as the state's attorney general for 7 1/2 years. "I was the first attorney general to have a deputy attorney general who was African-American," Terry said. Three other senior managers also were black, "which is a record." And at times, 18 percent of the lawyers on her staff were black, another high for the office, she said.
"It takes very strong leadership to send a clear signal that excellence and diversity go hand-in-hand," Terry said. She said the key was that supervisors in her office knew that they would be evaluated not only on the quality of the employees they hired, but on the diversity of their staffs.
"It's got to begin at the top," Terry said.
By contrast, Allen was asked why he had no blacks on his congressional staff and few blacks in senior positions on his paid campaign staff.
"We're running a lean campaign," Allen said, instead naming several prominent blacks who are volunteering in his campaign, such as Alexandria Vice Mayor Bill Cleveland.
"It is important to have diverse representation in my appointments, regional diversity as well as racial diversity," Allen said.
Allen also was peppered with questions about how sensitive he is to the concerns of black Virginians, who make up slightly less than 19 percent of the state's population.
While a few people in the audience whistled their disapproval, Allen said he voted against Virginia's adopting a Martin Luther King holiday because he didn't think the state should add another holiday, "especially for those who are not Virginians."
And he repeated his explanation of why he once displayed a Confederate flag in his flag collection. "It's not as if that were the only flag in my house," he said. "I have a large collection of flags. I have all sorts of flags" - including a Zulu flag.
Allen also explained a 1988 trip to South Africa, saying he was one of a number of state legislators invited by a multiracial group, the Southern Africa Forum, to attend a conference there. "A lot of people said, `Don't go, you'll be killed if you go,' " Allen said. He went anyway, to learn more about the problems in that country, but said he made a point to meet with black leaders and at least one recently released political prisoner.
"I went with great idealism, that there's got to be some solution. Being from Virginia, with James Madison and all our Constitutional history, I thought, `There's got to be a way.' " Instead, Allen said, "I came away in shock at the system and disgust," despairing at whether South Africa can ever build a multiracial democracy.
While Terry talked about appointing more blacks to office, Allen emphasized his economic program, which he said would "empower" all citizens and revitalize Virginia's inner cities by setting up tax-free enterprise zones.
"We need more jobs and retail outlets in our inner cities," Allen said.
Friday's forum marked a first of sorts - independent Nancy Spannaus, a follower of jailed political extremist Lyndon LaRouche, also appeared on the same stage, although not at the same time.
The NAACP said it had wanted all three candidates to debate, but said the Terry and Allen campaigns had refused to appear with Spannaus. The Allen campaign, though, said it was Terry who nixed the three-way debate by insisting that the candidates appear separately.
Spannaus said the nation was in the midst of a depression that could only be cured with new monetary policies. She also offered a new explanation for why Allen's plan to eliminate parole is a bad idea: Without hope of parole, more prisoners will kill prison guards, she said.
by CNB