THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 15, 1994 TAG: 9408130022
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
On July 29, Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, issued a press release proudly declaring that a $10 million ``criminal justice research and education center'' was about to be established there. Where was the money coming from? Why, from the about-to-be-passed crime bill, courtesy of Beaumont representative and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jack Brooks.
When Republicans pointed out this bit of pork buried deep in the fine print of the crime bill, other Democrats claimed not to know it was even there. Lamar University's pork was more proof of why this ``crime bill'' was bogus and deserved the 225-210 mugging it received in the House last Thursday. (All Virginia representatives voted ``no'' except for Democrats James Moran and Leslie Byrne.)
President Clinton and Congress' Democratic leadership are now scrambling for something they can label a crime bill and shove through Congress before the fall election campaigns heat up. Nervous Democrats have to rush home to save themselves from the anti-Clinton tide that even the president's own pollster warns of. They should save their breath. Mere tinkering won't save the crime bill. Only burial will do.
This bill is a $33 billion pork-barrel/social-work nightmare that began to fall apart as soon as people began reading what was actually in it. (A lesson to be remembered in the ongoing health-care debate.) There were dancing lessons for street thugs; arts and crafts; self-esteem courses; and, of course, the infamous midnight basketball leagues. The premise behind the latter, according to its author, is - no kidding - that participants will be too tired to commit mayhem.
In Washington, intimidation of witnesses in criminal cases has become endemic, and a serious obstacle to prosecutions. In California, jurors are demanding anonymity because of increasing threats. These are real-life problems on which the crime bill would have no impact whatever. A little trimming here and there will not make a bad bill an acceptable bill. Wipe the slate clean and start over next year. by CNB