Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994 TAG: 9406090066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER NOTE: below
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the longest and loudest applause was for critic Thaddeus Williams, who said he had torn up his prepared notes in anger long before he reached the speaker's podium.
"I think the panel has already made up its mind," Williams told the governor and his Commission on Parole Abolition and Sentencing Reform.
Williams then turned his back on the commission and faced the audience to question the wisdom of spending millions to keep criminals locked up when the money could be going to rehabilitation and treatment initiatives.
"When you're talking about warehousing people like cattle, and confining them for years with no hope of parole ... what good is that going to do?" Williams asked.
As soon as the applause had died down, Bob Leonard returned to the podium. Earlier in the night, Leonard had spoken emotionally about his efforts to keep the killer of his mother and grandfather from being released on parole after he received a life sentence in 1975.
Leonard pointed out that the killer had a prior criminal record but was allowed to go free by a criminal justice system that many see as doing little to protect the public from dangerous offenders.
That exchange - and many others during a hearing that was attended by about 150 people - underscored the complexity of a goal that Allen made the centerpiece of his campaign last fall.
Pledging to "stop the bleeding now in Virginia," Allen outlined his plans during one of the several public meetings he has called across the state. The basics of Allen's plan include:
Abolishing discretionary and mandatory parole, so that prisoners will serve a minimum of 85 percent of their sentences, as opposed to the 30 percent average under the current system.
Adopting a "truth in sentencing" plan that would reduce maximum punishments for many crimes but make the sentences more likely to be served in their entirety - in part by creating mandatory sentencing ranges that judges will be expected to follow.
Beefing up the punishment for violent and repeat offenders, while looking for new ways to divert nonviolent offenders to alternative forms of incarceration, such as community service and supervised probation.
Allen and commission members will continue to hold meetings and public hearings through the summer as they fine-tune the plan for a special legislative session in September.
Speaking to the commission Wednesday night were two Wythe County women who said they were sexually assaulted by the same man. The first woman said she was attacked by the man in 1979, but the system "turned him free to rape again, and rape again is exactly what he did."
In 1991, the second victim said, the same man laid in wait for her in her home and attacked her when she came home for lunch. He committed suicide later that same day, she said.
The fact that the man had committed many other sexual crimes shows how "the criminal justice system has proved itself to be unjust," the second victim said.
Wythe County Sheriff Wayne Pike, a member of the commission, praised the women for their courage in speaking out to reveal how a threat to society was returned repeatedly to society.
"The system never took this offender seriously," Pike said.
by CNB