THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9409020808
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-3rd, says Gov. George Allen's proposal to abolish parole and lengthen the sentences of violent criminals is ``an atrocious waste of money.''
Allen's proposal, if approved by the General Assembly, will cost the state $837 million over 10 years to build 27 new prisons.
Scott said Thursday that the proposal ``has no value in reducing crime, (but) there's no doubt that it will help politicians get elected.''
The Republican governor campaigned last year on the promise to abolish parole and lock up violent criminals without raising taxes.
``When you're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent ... on codifying a sound bite, it is just an atrocious waste of money,'' Scott told a State Crime Commission subcommittee.
The General Assembly meets Sept. 19 in a special session to consider Allen's proposal.
Allen has been touring the state, drumming up support for the proposal that would require those convicted of violent crimes to serve a minimum of 85 percent of their sentence. Allen says the proposal will prevent 120,000 serious crimes over the next 10 years by keeping violent offenders in prison.
At a Thursday stop in Danville, Allen said his proposal would save $2.7 billion over 10 years in lost wages, lost employment, medical bills and other costs associated with violent crime.
``The costs are very minimal compared to what the savings will be,'' he said.
Scott argued, however, that the money could be better spent in the community preventing crime.
Only 10 percent of crime results in convictions, Scott said. Allen's proposal ``will not help you catch any more criminals. Even if you've locked up everybody who's caught for longer periods of time, you've still ignored 90 percent of crime.''
The $837 million could be better spent on such things as housing, boys and girls clubs, family resource centers and other improvements to communities, said Scott, a former state senator.
``With that kind of money on the table you can reduce crime a lot more (rather) than just locking up the few people that you've already caught and punished'' he said.
Many crime victims and their families support the Allen proposal.
In Danville, Ralph McCauley said his son would be alive today if the Allen plan were in effect in 1988. McCauley's son was killed in a robbery that year by a man who was on parole.
``I feel if this man had been kept in prison where the courts put him, my son would be alive and well today,'' McCauley said. by CNB