Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 3, 1994 TAG: 9405040012
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
O. Randolph Rollins said the proposal by the Governor's Commission on Parole Abolition and Sentencing Reform needs a ``safety valve'' for inmates who are rehabilitated, become chronically ill or get too old to be dangerous.
``I just don't think you can predict at the time of sentencing what a person's life is going to be like in 10 years,'' Rollins said.
Rollins made the comments to reporters after a legislative commission on sentence and parole reform was briefed on ``Proposal X,'' Gov. George Allen's blueprint for abolishing parole in Virginia. Rollins is a member of the legislative commission, which has been studying parole reform for two years.
Allen built his campaign last fall on a promise to abolish parole. He appointed his own commission to come up with a plan, which was unveiled last month, and set a special legislative session on the issue for Sept. 19.
The governor's commission wants to abolish parole and require judges and juries to follow sentencing guidelines. Prisoners would get 30 days a year off their sentence for good behavior and up to an additional 60 days off for participating in work or education programs.
The Allen commission estimates that the average prisoner would serve 85 percent of his or her sentence. The average under the present parole system is 30 percent, although some inmates can be released after serving as little as one-sixth of their sentence.
Rollins said the state should retain some system for reviewing an inmate's progress ``if we're going to hold out hope that people can change.''
Such a system would not have to be run by a parole board, he said. One alternative, Rollins said, would be setting up a judicial panel ``to do this on a specialized basis.''
Rollins said he doubted the Allen commission would go along with his idea. ``Abolishing parole is a pretty cut-and-dried concept,'' he said.
Del. Kenneth R. Melvin, D-Portsmouth and a member of the legislative panel, also has concerns about ``Proposal X.'' He said allowing inmates to earn only 90 days off per year means ``the prison population will explode.''
Most offenders now can get 25 days of good behavior credit for every 30 days served, said Rick Kern, director of the Criminal Justice Research Center.
Melvin also said mandatory sentencing guidelines for both judges and juries will lead to more jury trials.
Most defense attorneys prefer to try their cases before judges because they typically give lighter sentences than juries, Melvin said. But if lawyers know there is no chance for ``a way-out sentence,'' he said, they will be more likely to take their chances with a jury.
The parole reform debate is heating up as the state faces a huge shortfall in prison space by the end of the decade.
Last month, the Allen commission was told that the state would need nearly 7,100 new prison beds by 1999.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.