A CONSERVATIVE REFORM

Bill Pryor's national stature may help his quest to change sentencing laws

State Attorney General Bill Pryor will sit on a federal appeals court if
President Bush has his way and Pryor can win endorsement in the U.S. Senate.

That would give Pryor a great deal of personal satisfaction and position
him to be of great influence in interpreting the law. But it's debatable
whether Pryor's work on a federal bench will mean as much to Alabama as the
current fight he is waging to reform the state's sentencing laws.

Thanks to Pryor, a special commission has studied how Alabama decides who
goes to prison for what crime and how long someone serves. The commission's
report was recently given to the Legislature. Last week, at a civic group's
meeting, Pryor endorsed it.

While that comes as no surprise, it did allow Pryor to underscore once
again that what he and the commission are about isn't being "soft on crime"
or trying to decriminalize drug laws or undercut any other issue dear to
the hearts of those who want the laws strictly enforced.

In fact, it's just the opposite. Part of what Pryor and the commission want
to do is to make sure that the sentences imposed on violent criminals are,
indeed, carried out. And they want some semblance of equity in sentencing
from one part of the state to another.

They also want to spend more money on prisons and correctional officers.
But they also want to use community-based programs where those programs
make sense. That not only saves the state money, it ensures that the cells
will be available for rapists and murderers and violent felons, while
first-time, non-violent offenders and those who would benefit from drug
programs can be rehabilitated.

Pryor wants to avoid, for example, the egregious situations that are all
too prevalent in the news - people guilty of heinous crimes drawing lighter
sentences than those who have disobeyed the state's draconian drug laws.

The decisions that the Legislature makes on how to implement the
commission's findings are important, but equally so will be the assurance
that people convicted of similar crimes anywhere in the state will get
approximately the same sentences, regardless of race or status. That,
sadly, is not the case now.

Coincidentally, Pryor's nomination for the federal judgeship - which will
undoubtedly draw questions, and probably opposition, from some liberal
U.S.. senators - may play in his favor in getting the Legislature behind
the reform.

Pryor's conservative credentials are impeccable. What he's fighting for in
overhauling the state's sentencing practices is common sense. The new
national spotlight that will shine on him in his judgeship hearings may
increase the potential for legislative and public acquiescence to
much-needed reforms.