THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140457
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: FACING THE FEAR
PAYING THE PRICE
This series is a combined project of The Associated Press, the Newport
News Daily Press, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Roanoke Times &
World News, and The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Abolishing parole is more than political rhetoric to inmates and correctional officers in state prisons, several state legislators learned in two prisons Tuesday.
Del. Kenneth R. Melvin, D-Portsmouth, organized a tour of St. Brides and Indian Creek correctional centers in southern Chesapeake to address questions such as: What does abolishing parole mean to inmates and correctional officers? Will it change the way inmates behave? Will prisons become more dangerous?
``If you're just dealing with the numbers, it has no impact,'' Melvin said. ``But if you go in there and actually see things like the sight lines that will be obstructed by additional bunks, it becomes much more personal, much more dramatic.''
Melvin asked St. Brides warden Patricia Edge, ``Have the prisoners been talking about this no-parole idea?''
She looked at him, chuckled and said, ``That is the No. 1 topic of conversation.''
Inmates naturally tended to criticize Gov. George F. Allen's proposed abolition of parole more harshly. But they and the officers had one position in common: It is dangerous to take away hope from an inmate.
``The inmates will play the game, up to a point,'' Capt. H.R. Arthur at Indian Creek told Melvin and two other legislators, Del. Vince Behm Jr. of Hampton and Del. Robert McDonnell of Virginia Beach. ``They'll play our game, but it's because they know that this carrot of parole is out there.
``If you take that away, we have to come up with a plan to keep them busy and keep their minds off of the longer time they're doing.''
James L. Rivers, a clinical social worker at St. Brides, said, ``They're thinking, `Why should I go over here and bother to get a journeyman's license? It won't help me get out.' They are under the impression this is going to cancel their paroles. I think it's very dangerous.''
Indian Creek's program of rehabilitation ``is doing really well for me,'' said inmate Timothy Byrd, 35, who has spent a total of 11 years in prison during different sentences. He quietly told Melvin that the system should distinguish between violent and nonviolent prisoners. He also said Virginia should continue and expand its educational and rehabilitative efforts.
Allen's proposal does concentrate on longer prison terms for violent offenders, and it would send more nonviolent offenders to treatment facilities. Dubbed ``Proposal X,'' it would do away with the current parole system and institute ``truth in sentencing,'' which would aim to make sentences more consistent and define exactly how much time the offender actually will serve.
The legislature will begin considering Allen's proposal in a special session beginning Monday.
St. Brides and Indian Creek correctional centers, both medium-security, are located off Indian Creek Road in southern Chesapeake. St. Brides, open as a state prison for 20 years, was designed to hold 375 inmates and now holds 525. Indian Creek, the state's newest prison, opened in February. It holds 825 but is expected to grow to more than 1,000 next year.
St. Brides concentrates heavily on education, with 439 of its inmates in classes studying trades or working toward their high school diplomas. Indian Creek hasn't started educational programs yet.
At Indian Creek, state prison officials showed Melvin how the dormitories are laid out, with an officer in a central control room watching two dorms at once.
The dorms are mostly single bunks now, with some doubles at the back. If the prison has to accept more inmates under Allen's plan, officials said, it will have to add double bunks. The more double bunks, the harder it is for officers to watch the entire dorm, they said.
KEYWORDS: PAROLE REFORM VIRGINIA by CNB