DATE: Saturday, October 25, 1997            TAG: 9710230033

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   54 lines

PILOT ENDORSEMENT ATTORNEY GENERAL

It has been more than a decade since Hampton Roads sent a statewide elected official to Richmond. Chesapeake state Sen. Mark L. Earley, who is the Republican candidate for attorney general, offers a good opportunity to improve that record.

Both Earley and his opponent, Democrat William G. Dolan III, could be expected to lead the attorney general's office with competence and integrity. Dolan has acquired management experience running a large law firm, but we believe that Earley's long and fruitful record of leadership in the legislature makes him the superior candidate.

The best attorneys general have a solid understanding of the agencies and departments that form state government, and of the laws peculiar to their operation.

As one who has helped shape many of those statutes during a decade in the state Senate, Earley knows not only the letter of the law, but the intent with which it was fashioned.

His leadership in a range of areas - criminal justice, mental health and child welfare, among them - means that he will be able to assess quickly and authoritatively critical issues as they arise.

We do not agree with Earley's positions on all the causes he has championed as a legislative spokesman for social conservatives. But we are impressed with the sincerity and absence of venom that he has brought to that role. On a personal level, the former missionary to the Philippines is well regarded by both friend and foe.

In this campaign, Earley stresses that the achievements he hopes to protect as attorney general - abolition of parole, welfare reform and parental notification for teen-age girls who seek an abortion - carry bipartisan support.

Some other Earley priorities (among them, a parental-rights amendment to the state constitution and the outlawing of all abortions, except to save the life of the mother) are less mainstream. But if Earley was unable to make them law as a state legislator, we do not believe he will be able to do so as attorney general.

There are many similarities between Dolan and Earley on questions involving the justice system. One important exception is Earley's support - and Dolan's opposition to - a family court. We agree with Supreme Court Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico that the creation of such a court should be a priority for Virginia.

Currently, families involved in divorce, custody or support disputes often shuttle back and forth among different courts. By concentrating such matters in a single place, with judges trained to work with families, more humane and less costly results will be possible.

Earley is a principled and intelligent public official who is deeply concerned about the well-being of individuals. That mind-set, combined with his understanding of our region, will make him a valuable asset in Richmond.

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