THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 13, 1994 TAG: 9409130353
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAURA LAFAY AND LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
In the strongest show of opposition so far, several groups on Monday attacked Gov. George Allen's plan to end parole in Virginia. Meanwhile, a largely Democratic legislative commission endorsed its own version of the plan, under which inmates would serve a mandatory sentence and then be considered for release.
In a news conference at the Capitol, the state chapter of the NAACP accused Allen of ``willfully'' playing ``on white fear and hysteria to promote a plan that will do very little to address the crime rate in Virginia.''
Earlier, Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, an inmate advocacy group that has chapters in 40 states, issued a report calling Allen's massive prison-building plan ``a billion-dollar wasteland of crime factories that are barbaric and that promote crime.''
The Allen proposal calls for 27 new prisons.
Joining in the attack were a multidenominational group of Virginia clergymen and the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. Both groups plan to release statements about the issue this week.
Leaders of all the groups complained Monday that they were shut out of the process by which the governor's Commission on Parole Abolition and Sentencing Reform came up with its plan. Some speculated that Allen withheld the details of his plan until the last minute in an effort to forestall public opposition. Allen's commission released its final report Aug. 23, less than a month before next Monday's commencement of a special legislative session to consider the issue.
``It's purposeful,'' said John Flannery, a Leesburg attorney who wrote the CURE report. ``He wants to put politicians in a bind where he can make them look like they're soft on crime.''
Allen and his aides have dodged a group of state religious leaders who have been asking to meet with him about the parole issue since last summer, said Dr. Stephen M. Colecchi, special assistant to Bishop Walter F. Sullivan of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. After the group announced last week that it would be releasing a statement, Richard Cullen, co-chairman of the governor's commission, asked for a meeting, Colecchi said. The meeting is scheduled to take place today.
All of the groups opposed to Allen's plan said it ignores the root causes of crime and crime prevention. Locking up prisoners for longer periods of time will only aggravate the crime problem, said CURE's Flannery.
``He's basically building a pressure cooker, and it's just a question of time before the damn thing's going to explode,'' he said.
The cost of the plan, estimated at up to $1 billion, was also a concern.
``I'm concerned that our governor's plan will essentially mortgage the future of Virginia,'' said Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, who is chairman of the Black Caucus. ``I think Gov. Allen is taking us down the road to a future tax increase to pay for an approach that has failed in other states.''
It is unclear whether any of the opposition will affect Allen's proposal. Last week, 74 of 100 House members and 31 of 40 senators signed on as co-patrons of the Allen plan.
Among them was Del. James Almand, D-Arlington, whose Commission on Sentencing and Parole Reform has been meeting for almost two years. The group on Monday endorsed its own plan, which would end parole and toughen sentences for violent offenders.
Under the Almand plan, every inmate would have a minimum and a maximum sentence to serve. For example, an inmate serving a sentence of five to 10 years would be eligible for release after serving five years, but could be held for 10 years if deemed a continuing danger by a sentencing commission. Allen has called the plan fraudulent and deceptive, saying it retains the old system under a new name.
Some members of the Almand commission worried that their plan does not have a specific range of sentences, and no firm cost estimate. ``I'm very concerned about the costs of these proposals, as will anyone who looks at this with any rationality and not just the television advertising,'' said John Fishwick, a Roanoke attorney who served on the panel. MEMO: This story was reported by The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times &
World-News.
KEYWORDS: PAROLE VIRGINIA by CNB