THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505170265
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Another View
SOURCE: By GOV. GEORGE ALLEN
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
The commonwealth of Virginia has witnessed a 28 percent increase in criminal violence during the past five years. The main reason: Three out of four violent criminals - murderers, armed robbers, rapists - are repeat offenders. We, like almost every state in the nation, have been paying the dividends of a liberal criminal-justice system and a lenient, deceitful parole system, both of which refuse to take seriously the punishment of society's most dangerous criminals.
We Virginians have had enough. My administration pushed through legislation, in effect since Jan. 1, that imposed more than twice the national average penalties for rape, murder and armed robbery. We have abolished Virginia's liberal parole system. We have increased as much as fivefold the amount of time violent offenders actually will spend in jail. In short, we are attempting to unravel 30 years of a deceitful system based on the bizarre notion that every violent criminal - even a murderer - deserves a second chance.
The new law in Virginia will prevent thousands of crimes, save lives, save money and help restore trust in the criminal-justice system. Under our system, every inmate convicted of a violent crime will serve a minimum of 85 percent of his or her sentence - compared to 50 percent nationally. The most conservative estimates show more than 4,300 felonies would have been prevented between 1986 and 1993 if the new system had been in place. That number is based on actual convictions - real cases, real people - not projections.
But our common-sense reform measures have not moved forward without criticism. Liberal lawmakers in the General Assembly hope to thwart reform by withholding funds to build the minimum number of prison facilities needed to house Virginia's most violent inmates. Increasing prison terms without expanding prison capacity is precisely the mistake too many other states already have made. And it is one we cannot afford: Virginia's population of 15-to-25-year-olds - those most prone to crime - is expected to rise sharply beginning next year.
Moreover, criticism of the costs involved is really a political red herring. Virginia has spent an average of $658 million in taxpayers' money each year handling repeat offenders. This includes the cost of new investigations, new arrests and new trials. Without reform, these costs will continue to soar.
Under our plan, the total cost of prison construction for the next decade will be about $750 million. Without question our new law will require additional prison space, but we are prepared to move forward with a systematic and responsible prison-construction program that meets our obligation to the safety and welfare of our citizens.
Under the new system, the 50-50 ratio of violent criminals to nonviolent in state prisons will be changed to 70-30 during the next 10 years. More marijuana dealers, embezzlers and petty thieves will be placed in low-cost work center for first-time and nonviolent offenses. These centers operate at about half the cost per inmate at the standard $40,000-per-cell-per-year prison. Better still, they ensure that inmates get work opportunities while incarcerated, which holds out a much better chance of breaking the pattern of crime and re-arrest. We can build these facilities quickly, freeing up bed space in the prisons for those who pose the greatest threat to our citizens.
If current statistics are a reasonable measure, when our crime-prevention program is fully implemented it will prevent some 26,000 violent crimes during the next 10 years. At least 475 lives will be saved, 3,700 women will be spared from rape and more than 11,300 aggravated assaults will not be committed in Virginia. Citizens will save more than $2.7 billion in direct costs.
But these crimes will be committed if we fail to keep criminals locked up. I asked the Virginia General Assembly in February for $402.6 million as a first installment in revamping our prison system. Lawmakers voted to provide only one-quarter of that. They don't get it: By shortchanging the prison construction, they are making it more likely that dangerous criminals will be released early. And it is average Virginians - not the average liberal lawmaker - who must face these criminals in their neighborhoods.
If that fact doesn't make it harder for legislators to sleep at night, then they have forgotten that public safety is the primary responsibility of government. MEMO: This essay by Virginia Gov. George Allen is adapted from his article in
the Spring 1995 issue of Policy Review, the quarterly journal of The
Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.
by CNB