ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE AND JUNE ARNEY STAFF WRITERS
Children charged with committing the most serious crimes would be tried as adults, and juvenile courts would be opened to the public in felony cases, under a bipartisan proposal announced Wednesday.
The compromise plan is the product of much debate and many late-night meetings to combine the work of a commission appointed by Gov. George Allen with that of a group headed by Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk.
There was a lot of blending," Allen said at a news conference. "We wanted to take the best of the two commissions' diligent work. ... This will send a message to young people that we're not just going to give you a slap on the wrist."
The proposal calls for youths charged with the most serious crimes, including murder and rape, to automatically face trial as adults. Prosecutors get to choose the court for another group of serious offenses, including carjacking and robbery. Judges will retain the option of sentencing those youths as juveniles. Judges also will have new sentencing options.
Jones said the plan meets the three goals of handling the state's most violent juvenile offenders in Circuit Court, restoring credibility to the juvenile justice system and addressing the needs of the vast majority of petty offenders.
"There are some things in that bill that I'd rather not have in there, quite frankly," Jones said. "But on balance, and practical reality, I know that reasonable minds differ sometimes."
Attorney General Jim Gilmore, who headed the governor's commission, said both groups agreed on many changes to improve the current system.
"We will prevent, rescue and redirect when we can and where we can,'' he said. "But we'll also punish when we have to.''
But in an afternoon public hearing, about 20 people, including a former juvenile offender, a judge, a defense lawyer and representatives from churches and a bar association, voiced reservations or opposition.
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney David Hicks said plans to automatically try youths charged with the most serious offenses as adults would tie the hands of prosecutors and take away the juvenile court as a bargaining chip. And once in Circuit Court, judges are unlikely to sentence offenders as juveniles, he said.
He also said prosecutors are likely to feel political pressure to choose adult court for juvenile suspects in cases where they have that option.
"I think potentially this legislation could severely undermine our law enforcement efforts,'' he said later.
University of Richmond law professor Robert E. Shepherd Jr. said he is disappointed by the compromise proposal, which looks very different from what he endorsed as a member of the Commission on Youth.
"My question is, `What did you get in return?'" he said. But the full meaning of the compromise is not yet clear, since much could depend on funding, he said.
"Clearly, we did not go as far as a lot of other states, but this is a slippery slope, and we're over the edge now,'' Shepherd said.
Norfolk Circuit Judge Charles Poston asked legislators to remember that the decision on whether to try a youth as an adult has traditionally been in the hands of "impartial, dispassionate, deciders of fact'' - juvenile court judges. Poston's position as a judge does not allow him to discuss many of his views on the proposed bill.
A 27-year-old man, who asked to be identified only as Michael, said he experienced the juvenile justice system firsthand when he was convicted of 11 felonies at age 12. It wasn't until age 17, when he was sent to Elk Hill, a treatment program in Goochland, that he turned around.
The man, a native of Newport News, said he graduated from college summa cum laude and is working as an accountant.
"They're losing sight of what's in the best interest of the child,'' he said. "They want to convict these people and send them to prison. If they just gave each treatment facility $75,000, they could work miracles.''
Wednesday's bipartisan compromise came at the end of negotiations that began Dec. 30 in Richmond, where senators and delegates from both sides met with representatives of the governor and attorney general. The first agreement: to check the politics at the door.
Participants say that tenet stuck, and that legislators showed a willingness to sacrifice some details in favor of a bill that most General Assembly members likely will support.
Such consensus-building has been a rarity in Richmond of late. Wednesday's deal is partly a child of the conciliatory mood born of the recent election, members say. But it also stemmed from a bipartisan conviction that the state's juvenile justice system needed change, one way or another.
"I hope people can see that this is a good example of the way you make good laws," Jones said.
"You bring people together who are knowledgeable, who have a stake in these things, who don't necessarily have the inherent biases of politics, and you come up with the best thing you can."
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Gov. George Allen details a compromise proposal toby CNBchange the juvenile justice system as Del. Jerrauld Jones (right)
and Attorney General Jim Gilmore (left) listen. KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996