Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408260074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JARRATT LENGTH: Medium
``If there's a price to be paid, I'm willing to pay that'' for a meeting with Allen, Michael X. Johnson said in a Thursday interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch at the Greensville Correctional Center.
``I am prepared to go as far as God will permit ... even until death.''
Johnson has consumed only water and fruit drinks since Aug.8 and is thin but appears otherwise healthy. He began his fast in the wake of publicity about Allen's Proposal X, a blueprint for abolishing parole.
``Society has a right to be concerned about crime, OK? But their concern should not be manipulated by Governor Allen, his Parole Board, nor his commission to abolish parole,'' Johnson said.
``Punishing us will not solve the problem of crime.''
There has been little reaction from the nearly 20,000 inmates in 42 Virginia prisons who have watched as Allen's proposal picks up steam. A public-relations blitz on behalf of the program has produced crime victims with sad stories and denunciations of ``liberal, lenient parole.''
Department of Corrections Director Ronald Angelone said he was not aware of any incidents related to Proposal X, but knew of Johnson's protest and had heard rumors of an inmate sit-down strike. But he said he was not expecting problems.
Angelone said Johnson would not get his wish to talk to Allen.
``The inmate is requesting special consideration because he wants to be heard about Proposal X. He doesn't have a voice about Proposal X'' because he is not affected by it, Angelone said.
Johnson argues that the parole rate has dropped so low that Allen effectively has ended it for current inmates as well.
In 1985, when he was 16, Johnson stabbed a 45-year-old woman to death with a pair of scissors in a Crystal City office building. He was caught hiding in a ladies room with $37 and a bank card that belonged to his victim.
He was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery in 1986. His prosecutor was former Arlington Commonwealth's Attorney Helen Fahey, now the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and on the legislature's Commission on Sentencing and Parole Reform.
Johnson received a life sentence, but will be eligible for parole in 1997. He knows the odds are against him.
Johnson said he is remorseful for his crimes, but ``I'm going to be honest with you. In the first couple of years in prison I didn't feel bad. I didn't know how to feel. I was 16 years old when this happened.''
He said that when inmates are paroled and commit new crimes, the corrections system that did not offer them enough ``corrections'' is also to blame. ``To just punish us is morally incorrect.''
by CNB