CANDIDATE WANTS TOUGH PENALTIES FOR NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS

RICHMOND -- Steve Baril, a lawyer seeking the GOP nomination for attorney
general this year, said Monday that he wants to toughen criminal sentences
for nonviolent offenders.

Baril said defendants convicted of stealing and drug offenses too
frequently avoid jail time. He said he was uncertain how much it would cost
to put more non violent criminals behind bars, but he noted that they
represent 85 percent of all prosecutions in Virginia.

Tough-on-crime measures frequently have large price tags. For example, the
General Assembly this year rejected a proposal to impose five-year
mandatory sentences on all convictions for cocaine sales after learning
that the measure would require as many as four new prisons during six
years, inflating the corrections budget by $85 million annually.

Baril criticized the state's sentencing guidelines, used by judges to
ensure consistent punishments across the state for specific crimes.

He said the guidelines ignore penalties recommended by juries, typically
harsher than those imposed in bench trials.

Richard P. Kern, director of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission,
said his agency considers all penalties, including those in jury trials,
then weeds out the toughest and most lenient sentences so that the
guidelines represent a mid-range.

Baril's opponent for the nomination is Del. Robert F. McDonnell, R-Virginia
Beach. McDonnell said the guidelines are being revised this year to ensure
fairness, but he said the system is generally successful in imposing the
harshest penalties on the most dangerous criminals.

He said judges are free to exceed the guidelines when tougher penalties are
merited.

Baril spoke at a luncheon fund-raiser. Campaign staffers said they hoped to
raise more than $250,000 at the event.