ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 15, 1994                   TAG: 9409150040
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By The Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FACING THE FEAR - PAYING THE PRICE

``I think that the solutions along these lines just lie in the capacity of prisons, but if the judicial system has the idea of redefining crime, because what's putting people out for 18 months or two years after they've committed violent crimes is that jails are clogged with people who've been charged with a variety of things, such as drug offenses, that can be handled administratively or some other way."

``I've never been in a prison, but I'm not interested in making the conditions so barbaric that they come out feeling worse about themselves and the situation than when they went in. Cable TV is the one thing that keeps them calm.''

- Ann Hoffer, 50, Arlington, federal employee.

``I think if they do the crime, they should do the time. If they're sentenced to 10 years, they should have to serve 10 years.''

- Frances Beard, 61, Arlington, apartment manager

``If you don't give them any kind of a sentence that offers any hope at all, this state is going to be one riot after another. And I predict that before the summer is over after this parole commission has their meeting, there will probably be a series of riots throughout the state.

- Frank E. Saunders, 66, Richmond, retired prison administrator

and member of Virginia Parole Board, 1982-89.

``There are a few societies which have a lower crime rate than the United States - part of it could be the severity of the punishment.

``What they do is indoctrinate and inculcate very young people with their values. The value to respect other people's property, the value to respect other people's rights. The hard work ethic. The oriental culture has many of these attributes, along with a lower crime rate, although that's beginning to change as they become more capitalistic and more similar to the American society.

``There are three ways they teach these values: In the home, through religious institutions and through educational institutions. I think it's abysmal that we'll teach somebody how to dissect a salamander in high school, and two years later that same person will go out and have a baby and not know a damned thing about how to be a good parent. I think it ought to be a requirement in every curriculum in every school in America to teach how to be a parent.''

- Chuck Roberts, 44, Manassas, lawyer.

``One thing I notice, the schools got away from teaching values because we equated it with teaching religion. When they did that, they threw out the values along with the religion.

``The kids I see with stable lives, church, community involvement, seem to be OK. The ones from single-parent families, depending on family situations, no strong church connection, where are they getting it? Not at school. They're starting back, at elementary schools, caring and sharing. A lot of kids who are teen-agers.''

- Jan R. Ford, 41, Manassas

``Caning would be more efficient punishment for any of the crimes that they commit - if they did it the next day - than any of the punishment they are dealing out now. They're so slow."

- Russell L. Powell, 62, Franklin, dental lab operator 


 by CNB