ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610210021
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: LARRY O'DELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
Two years after passage of parole abolition and truth-in-sentencing laws, murderers and armed robbers can expect to be behind bars nearly three times as long.
Ask Gov. George Allen and administration officials, and they say the figures prove the initiative is accomplishing its goal: protecting the public from violent criminals.
The president of the Virginia College of Criminal Defense Attorneys, however, says the public could suffer greater harm in the long run when offenders embittered by years of prison time are eventually released.
``We may be destroying society by making people stay in prison for a longer period than needed, then turning them loose with their humanity taken away,'' said Andrew Sacks, a defense lawyer from Norfolk.
He said parole abolition has given inmates a sense of hopelessness and has taken away their incentive for self-improvement.
Sarita Booker offers herself as living proof. She will remain in prison at least until 2014, when she finishes a sentence at a women's prison in Goochland County for shoplifting $207 worth of clothing.
``I'm angry. I'm bitter,'' she said in a telephone interview. ``If I have to do 17 years for such a small crime, I probably will be angry when I get out.''
She said she will serve more time than many violent offenders who committed their crimes before parole was abolished. ``I feel I have lost my son, my life, my mother - everything.''
Booker, 35, has a criminal record dating to 1984, according to the Department of Corrections. She blames cocaine and heroin addiction for her problems.
Victims' rights advocates have a different perspective on parole abolition. Phyllis Rosenbluth of Arlington, whose son and daughter-in-law were murdered in Chesterfield County in 1993, said she takes comfort in the tougher approach.
``It can never bring back our children, so the best we can hope is that others are spared the kind of pain we endured,'' she said.
Parole Board member Linda Pitman, who was raped in 1989, said the prison time violent offenders served under the old system was appallingly short.
``Victims didn't even have time to heal before the perpetrator was back out on the street,'' she said. ``The fact is, innocent people get hurt, and the focus needs to be on them.''
The General Assembly approved Allen's parole abolition plan Sept. 30, 1994. The law bans discretionary parole for offenses committed after Dec. 31, 1994, imposes new sentencing guidelines and drastically reduces inmates' time off for good behavior.
The Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission's first study of the law's impact shows that a person with no prior criminal record convicted of first-degree murder can expect to spend 38.7 years in prison. Under the old system, the average was 12.4 years.
Prison time for other violent criminals showed similarly dramatic increases. For instance, first-degree murderers with a record of serious violent crimes will spend 38.7 years in prison instead of 14.7; second-degree murderers with serious prior convictions will serve 24.6 years instead of 7.2.
On a percentage basis, the biggest increase was for armed robbers with a record of more serious violent crimes. The average time behind bars more than quadrupled, from 4.1 years to 18 years.
The sentencing commission used cases from 1988-92 in figuring average prison time under the old system. The figures for the new system are less precise because most of those inmates are still in prison. The commission factored in a projected 10 percent reduction for good behavior.
State Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore said he was pleased with the study's findings.
``It shows we are treating violent crimes seriously in Virginia, and that those who want to commit violent crimes will spend a significant amount of time behind bars,'' he said.
Mark Christie, the governor's chief lawyer, said the study also shows widespread acceptance of the voluntary sentencing guidelines. Judges are required to fill out a sentencing guidelines work sheet, but they can adjust the recommended sentence up or down depending upon circumstances.
The sentencing commission found that judges complied with the guidelines in 75.2 percent of the 17,606 cases it studied. Tougher sentences were given in 13.8 percent of cases, lighter sentences in 11 percent.
``The guidelines obviously are being well accepted,'' Christie said.
Sacks said some violent criminals should be kept locked up for the rest of their lives, but he fears others will languish in prison longer than necessary.
``I think we are being sold short by vote-seeking politicians who are only concerned about presenting quick fixes to a very complex problem,'' he said.
However, Kilgore said the tougher approach is at least partly responsible for a 12 percent drop in crime in Virginia since 1994. He said the longer sentences are keeping criminals in prison beyond the crime-prone ages of 15-24.
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