THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 12, 1994 TAG: 9409110003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Facing the Fear: Paying the Price
This series is a combined project of The Associated Press, the Daily
Press of Newport News, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Roanoke Times
& World-News, and The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
SOURCE: BY FRANK GREEN, RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Abolishing parole will encourage criminals to commit more desperate and violent acts in order to avoid capture, according to four former inmates who live in the Richmond area.
Understandably, the four parolees oppose Gov. George Allen's plan to eliminate the practice that freed them from prison early.
But ending parole will lead to more dangerous streets and prisons, said one who asked that his name not be used because he is applying for a job.
Criminals would decide, ``I'm going to eliminate that (victim) all together. That way I don't have no witness,'' the parolee said.
If he were to return to crime, he said, ``I'm going to go for the gusto, I'm going to go for the entire thing because I don't have nothing to lose.''
This parolee and the other three also dispute the administration's claim that a maximum of 15 percent off a sentence for good behavior will be sufficient.
``If I'm looking at a situation where I'm going to get 20 years without parole, then what do I have to lose?'' the parolee asked.
George H. Johnson, an adviser to a Richmond ex-offender support group, arranged a group interview with the four men, each of whom is a repeat offender incarcerated for offenses ranging from forgery and larceny to aggravated assault.
Each committed a crime, was paroled, committed another crime and is now on parole again or has completed his probationary period.
They also criticized Allen's parole abolition plan for being politically motivated and racially biased. All four are black.
Allen argues that his proposal to lock violent criminals away longer will benefit the high-crime black neighborhoods by reducing crime.
The parolees were most concerned that more be done to prepare inmates for life on the outside. Pressures to return to crime are strong, they said.
Overcoming the stigma of being a criminal is difficult, said Albert Jeter, 42. ``Even though a person gets parole, he's doing that time for the rest of his life, really. You've still got to pay for that crime every time you go to apply for a job.
``They never let you forget it.''
Jeter also said that after five years in prison most inmates lose what little support they may have had on the outside.
``It's a question of stripping everything from a man. Most marriages are done away with within the first five years of incarceration, so if you're talking about housing a man longer than that, the chances of him coming back out into society and having something are close to nothing.
``While I was incarcerated my father died, my grandmother died. A lot of things can change in a short period of time,'' Jeter said.
Proponents of parole abolition advocate more jobs and training for inmates, though the parolees said they do not believe that will happen because building the needed prisons will absorb resources.
``If there is no parole the taxpayers will have to pay for it,'' said James Phillips, 49.
The Allen plan does give a nod to such concerns, but the authors of the plan also noted that they ``feel strongly that neither society nor the government has any obligation to the released offender.''
``Whenever they want to do something they pick on the people they don't have to worry about to get re-elected,'' said Jeter, ``people that either don't vote, like many on welfare, or people that can't,'' like felons.
``What I see the governor doing is taking the easy route instead of dealing with the (causes) of crime,'' he said. ``I think we need to look at some other things instead of just warehousing people . . . We're human beings.''
``The people who get out and commit another murder is rare,'' said Phillips, ``but it's in the paper. But what about the people who commit a homicide and come out and never commit another homicide again? ''
Yet, all four of the parolees are testament to the lure of the criminal mind-set. Each is a one-time recidivist.
Johnson, the group adviser, also expressed doubts about whether the Allen plan really is intended to accomplish what it says it will. ``I'm stopping short of calling it racist,'' he said.
`` I think he's yielding to the pressure, but I think we need to take a look at the stats and see who is this policy going to affect,'' Johnson said.
The answer, said Alvin Lewis, a 43-year-old former inmate, is ``poor people, minorities and former offenders.'' Lewis was more direct than Johnson in voicing his suspicions: ``I'm saying it is racist.''
The parolees concede that minorities are the most frequent victims of crime, but dispute the notion that ending parole and other measures are intended to help blacks.
``So, in order to help resolve black-on-black crime you take a man or woman the community? Is that going to resolve the problem?'' asked Johnson. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
James Phillips, former inmate
Avin Lewis, former inmate
Color Graphic by Stephen Rountree, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Source: Virginia Parole Board
Sentencing & Parole: How it works
Sentencing
Parole Process
Throwing away the key
For copy of graphic, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: PAROLE VIRGINIA SERIES by CNB