VA. EYES LONGER JAIL SENTENCES ASSEMBLY TARGETS DRUG 'KINGPINS'

RICHMOND - Bills boosting jail time for selling drugs and driving drunk are
steaming through the General Assembly, part of a broad push by Virginia's
first majority-Republican legislature to toughen criminal penalties.

The drive lacks the coordination and sweep of then-Gov. George Allen's
campaign to abolish parole five years ago. But it could affect penalties
for offenses such as slugging a referee at a children's soccer game or
infecting an unsuspecting sexual partner with the virus that causes AIDS.

While it's too soon to tell how many of these bills will gain final
approval during the 60-day legislative session, the tougher sentences could
emerge as a legacy of the Republicans' first year in power in the state
legislature.

"A lot of these bills raising punishment, they would just get narrowly
defeated" at the committee level, said Del. David B. Albo, a Fairfax
Republican. "This year, we've been able to bust them through."

The biggest GOP crime initiatives this session are part of a proposal made
by Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R), and are designed to crack down on drug
"kingpins," along with repeat drug dealers. The measures pending in the
House and Senate call for a range of minimum mandatory sentances of six
months to life in prison.

The drunken-driving penalties would increase the minimum amount of time
offenders must spend in jail - to as many as 25 days for a second offense -
and penalties would be pegged to the amount of alcohol detected in their
blood.

State legislatures around the country have been creating new penalties for
drug kingpins, and many also have been linking drunken-driving penalties to
blood alcohol levels. About 15 states have established varying penalties
depending on how much drivers have had to drink, according to the National
Conference of State Legislatures. Maryland lawmakers are considering such
penalties.

Other measures approved by the House include legislation calling for a
minimum of two days in jail when an adult batters a sports official, and
six months' mandatory jail time if a weapon is used. Supporters said the
bill is needed to crack down on people who take out their aggression or
disappointment on referees and coaches.

Under a Senate measure, selling or giving a handgun to a minor becomes
punishable by a one-year minimum mandatory sentence. Another Senate measure
would increase penalties for persuading another person to commit a felony.

And House legislation approves the creation of a new penalty for someone
who knowingly spreads HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The measure says
that if someone with HIV has sexual relations without the partner knowing,
it's a misdemeanor and if someone intentionally transmits HIV, it's a felony.

Gilmore made the drug-kingpin proposal in September, in advance of
November's legislative elections. And his plan has cleared both chambers of
the legislature largely as the governor proposed, with several differences
between the House and Senate versions.

Supporters of the Gilmore drug legislation, called Substance Abuse
Reduction Effort, said the tougher sentencing measures are needed because
current law is not enough of a deterrent.

For example, the House measure would call for a minimum mandatory life
sentence for those convicted of possession with intent to distribute 10
kilograms or more of cocaine, and found to be involved in a continuing
criminal enterprise. Under current law, it would take 500 kilograms of
cocaine for a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years.

"It's targeting the problem," said Virginia Attorney General Mark L. Earley
(R). "The problem with drugs is the people who deal in large quantities. If
we can take those people out of circulation, we're going to begin to make
some progress on a war that has been very, very spotty."

The House legislation includes other provisions, including a three-year
minimum mandatory penalty for third-time offenders convicted of possession
with intent to distribute lesser amounts of drugs. Gilmore has said his
drug program, which calls for bounties for drug kingpins, a new state
police anti-drug unit and funding for treatment, would cost $60 million
over two years.

Some lawmakers have raised concerns about required minimum sentencing,
saying it removes needed discretion from judges and can be draconian.

"It's causing a lot of nonviolent people to be locked up for more time than
is necessary to rehabilitate them," said Del. Jerrauld C. Jones
(D-Norfolk), head of the legislative black caucus. "Let's lock them up at a
rate commensurate and proportional to their crimes against society."

Laura Sager, executive director of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a
Washington-based advocacy group, said that some states with stiff minimum
penalties for drug kingpins have locked people away too long.

"People are swept up under long mandatory minimum sentences that have a
very tangential relationship to the drug trade," Sager said. "Mandatory
minimum sentences end up incarcerating low level offenders and addicts ...
rather than targeting drug kingpins."

Sager cited a Michigan case in which a 24-year-old mother with no criminal
record was sentenced to life without parole on a drug charge. Twenty years
ago, police found her boyfriend's drugs in her car, and she was one of the
first people sentenced under the state's drug-kingpin law. She and her
boyfriend said she did not know about the drugs. That case helped convince
the Michigan legislature to alter the law in 1988, giving judges more
discretion.

But Virginia lawmakers who are sponsoring the Gilmore plan said those types
of cases would be highly unlikely in the commonwealth. They said
prosecutors would have to show that the girlfriend intended to distribute
the drugs.

In addition, they argued that judges should not have discretion in certain
areas where the General Assembly wants to send a message.

"Sometimes the behavior is so criminal and so outrageous that we don't want
the judges to exercise discretion with regards to the behavior," said Sen.
Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), the sponsor of the Senate drug
legislation. He said the General Assembly wanted to send a message: "If you
step across this line, there are swift punishments associated with it."

On the drunken-driving issue, the Senate has signed off on measures that
would boost minimum jail time for second-time drunken-driving offenses from
two days to five days. Another measure ups the penalties for heavy
drinkers. For instance, first-time offenders with blood alcohol levels of
0.25 and above would be required to spend at least 10 days in jail.
Currently, there is no mandatory minimum penalty.

Both Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Northern Virginia lawmakers are
supporting those penalties, saying people with heavy concentrations of
alcohol in their blood are far more likely to cause car wrecks. Sen.
William C. Mims (R-Loudoun), sponsor of the graduated penalty measure, said
it was needed to crack down on hard-core drinkers.

Staff writer Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.