GOV. KAINE'S 'NONVIOLENT' OFFENDERS

Depending on how one defines a "nonviolent" offender, Virginia Gov. Tim
Kaine could stand guilty of trying to provide a get-out-of-jail 90 days
early card to career criminals, including drug dealers, pornographers, and
people who burn crosses or paint swastikas, manufacture methamphetamine
with children present, or commit or aid and abet acts of terrorism. Mr.
Kaine, with support from the editorial page of The Washington Post, has
announced plans to allow prison officials to release certain criminals up
to 90 days before the end of their sentences (currently, they can shorten
sentences up to 30 days.). Mr. Kaine and legislative allies claim that by
releasing approximately 3,000 to 5,000 offenders early, their legislation
will save taxpayers money without compromising public safety. This
assertion is very much open to question.

The budgetary savings from early release are estimated at $5 million to
$10 million through next year - a very modest amount of money considering
that the commonwealth is attempting to balance a two-year, $77 billion
budget. The idea might nonetheless make sense if it were really true that
the inmates being released were in fact first-time "nonviolent" offenders
of things like minor drug offenses or burglary. But, contrary to popular
myth, Virginia courts are not in the habit of locking up first offenders
for possessing small amounts of marijuana: Usually the people convicted of
such crimes also have extensive criminal histories. "A nonviolent offense
wouldn't result in a prison sentence if that was all they had done," said
Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, Fairfax Republican, a member of the Courts of Justice
Committee. Mr. Cuccinelli said he was troubled by the premise that
burglary is a minor crime because a weapon was not used, pointing out that
there is always a risk of violence - p! articularly if burglars are
confronted by homeowners. "I take no comfort in the fact that someone is
'only a burglar,' " he told The Washington Times, adding that corrections
and public safety should be the last place that politicians look to cut
the budget in an effort to find another $5 million to $10 million.

If anything, Mr. Cuccinelli could be understating the danger posed by the
inmates that the governor wants to release. Delegate Todd Gilbert, Page
County Republican and a career prosecutor, went through Mr. Kaine's
proposal line by line and provided The Washington Times with a list of
categories of inmates eligible for early release under the governor's
plan. In addition to persons convicted of cross-burning and placing
swastikas on property in an effort to intimidate, they include persons
incarcerated for such crimes as: stalking; assault and battery against a
family member; threatening the governor or his immediate family; escaping
from jail; abusing and neglecting children; DUI manslaughter; and allowing
a child to be present during manufacture of methamphetamine.

Mr.Gilbert, a member of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission, said
he was also troubled by plans announced Jan. 26 by state corrections
officials to use home electronic monitoring to keep track of prisoners. He
said that this could endanger public safety since "many of the felons who
will be released under this plan to serve out their sentences in the
relative comfort of their homes are ... drug dealers or have extensive
criminal records. This bill will destroy truth in sentencing by ensuring
that thousands of drug dealers will move from their prison cells to their
easy chairs."

If Mr. Cuccinelli and Mr. Gilbert are correct, Mr. Kaine's efforts to
release "nonviolent" offenders might not save any money at all -
particularly if drug dealers, burglars and the like who get out of prison
early commit additional crimes. We know that Mr. Kaine, who just became
chairman of the Democratic National Committee and is in the final year of
his governorship, cannot possibly want this to be part of his legacy. And
we can't imagine that the national Democratic Party, no matter how
"progressive" its leadership fancies itself, could possibly want to be
saddled with a chairman whose idea of "fiscal responsibility" is flinging
open the prison gates.