ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 TAG: 9701140074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
State Sen. Yvonne Miller of Norfolk wants Bishop Levi E. Willis recognized as a respected community leader whose new church will serve hundreds of children.
But Miller's ceremonial tribute has rankled other legislators, who say the General Assembly, for the first time in memory, is about to express its formal admiration for a convicted felon.
"It certainly is not something that I recall ever happening in my time up here," said Del. George Heilig, D-Norfolk, a 24-year veteran of the House of Delegates.
"If we've ever commended someone with a felony record, we didn't know it."
Miller's resolution commending Willis - "an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for his many accomplishments" - already has passed the Senate without opposition.
It is scheduled for a vote in the House of Delegates on Friday. If approved, the commendation would be set in calligraphic type and stamped with the Senate seal for presentation to Willis.
But several legislators say they expect the House to take the extraordinary step of debating the measure, with some members urging its defeat. That would be the first instance in longtime legislators' memories that a commending resolution was anything but a unanimous formality.
Willis owns several dozen radio stations and has long been an influential leader in Norfolk's black community. The pastor and founder of Norfolk's Garden of Prayer Temple opened a $2 million, 1,750-seat church in August, prompting Miller's resolution commending him.
Willis pleaded guilty in 1992 to breaking a federal law designed to impede money laundering. He was sentenced to four months of home detention, two years of probation and fined $10,000.
The General Assembly has no formal rules governing whom it commends, but some legislators said Monday that felons ought not be among them.
"If no one else objects, I will," said Del. William Robinson, D-Norfolk.
"To pass the resolution suggests that this body approves of all that this individual has done, and I don't believe that is a proper statement for us to make."
The General Assembly passes several hundred resolutions every year commending individuals and civic groups, or memorializing people who have died. Most lawmakers never read them, trusting that their colleagues select appropriate recipients for commendation.
"It's a courtesy," said Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach. For that reason, Stolle said, he and the rest of the Senate approved Miller's resolution by voice vote Thursday.
Last year, Stolle entered a resolution commending three Hampton Roads police officers who shot and killed a suspect after a deadly crime spree. The resolution was signed by every senator but one - Miller.
"I remembered, but the things she was commending Bishop Willis for were commendable things," Stolle said. "Unless there is something that really distinguishes an individual, though, we ought not be in the habit of commending convicted felons."
Miller said Monday afternoon that she had heard objections to her resolution only recently and did not have a comment. She suggested, however, that she will not push the matter if it becomes controversial.
"If there are some people who are not forgiving, and who would consider someone not a worthy human being, then maybe there is some other way of expressing appreciation," Miller said.
She would not elaborate, but said she would find some way "to say thank you to him for opening a new church."
"I'm glad I've given them something to work on," she said.
Objections to Miller's resolution also point to divisions within Norfolk's delegation of Democrats and within the Legislative Black Caucus of the General Assembly.
Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, chairman of the black caucus, retained his seat in a 1995 Democratic primary against Willis' son, Levi Willis II. Miller, a senior Norfolk Democrat and black caucus member, did not support Jones in that election.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB