Early Test for New Virginia Gov. on Sentencing Reform
Virginia’s new Governor, Glen Youngkin, was sworn in Saturday and immediately announced eleven executive orders to fulfill promises he made during his campaign last year. One of them was to terminate the members of the criminal-coddling state Parole Board. Youngkin also appointed former U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen as Counselor to the Governor. Cullen was Vice-Chairman on a 1994 commission under Governor Richard Allen which recommended the elimination of parole and tougher sentencing. Governor Youngkin’s commitment to reducing crime will face an early test from two bills introduced in Virginia’s divided legislature last week. Hans Bader of Liberty Unyielding reports that HB 906 and SB 378 would create the “second look” law, giving judges the authority to cut a violent criminal’s sentence by 10 to 15 years, even for life-sentenced murderers.
“The Virginia bill would let inmates who have committed even the most violent crimes such as murder seek release after ten years in prison if they committed the crime before age 25, or after 15 years in prison if they committed their crime after turning 25.”
This kind of policy has been in operation in neighboring Maryland for years, undoubtedly contributing to its rate of violent crime which is more than twice the rate of Virginia’s.
“The “second look” bill would gut Virginia’s tough sentences, allowing sentences to be shortened from 40 years or more for a murder down to 10 or 15 years. Virginia’s lengthy sentences have paid off in its low crime rate, which makes it one of America’s safest states. Virginia has a violent crime rate that is only half the national average. It has the lowest violent crime rate in the entire southeastern United States, and a lower violent crime rate than all neighboring states, especially Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee.”
California, Illinois and Pennsylvania have engaged in similar “reforms” to eliminate the so-called overincarceration of minority offenders with disastrous results. People living these state’s largest cities (Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia) are experiencing historic increases in violent crime, particularly shootings and murders. Most of those being assaulted and killed are black. Most of the criminals committing these crimes are other blacks. To the politicians ruling these cities, addressing the specter of “white supremacy” is a much higher priority than confronting the reality that a wildly disproportionate number of black men, women and children are being slaughtered on a daily basis by criminals left on the streets by their policies.
While the Virginia bills have bi-partisan support, Bader notes a similar bill was rejected with both Democrat and Republican votes last year. Governor Youngkin should take the opportunity to target these “second look” bills for defeat, sending the message that the state of Virginia places a higher value on innocent black lives than its progressive neighbors.
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Hi Michael – I know you guys disagree with the general idea of these bills but I tend to agree with them. The idea of giving very long sentences with a limited possibility of early release (whether parole or otherwise) may have been popular in the 1980s and 1990s but we now are coping with the consequences – overcrowded prisons that are full of people who have societal problems that may be better handled outside of the criminal justice system. Locking more and more people up may reduce crime but we should always at least attempt to show compassion to all people even those who break our laws recognizing that “there but the grace of God” we are all capable of becoming criminals. Second look legislation recognizes that not all violent criminals – murderers, rapists – need to be incarcerated forever and that some people can grow out of that behavior. A sentencing cap of 20 or 25 years recognizes the need for both public safety (incarceration as a last resort) and compassion – I support the goals of progressive prosecutors like Gascon and Bragg as they recognizes the shifting realities and the fact that we must try to allow people to mature, even those who have offended our laws in grievous ways. I thank you guys (you, Kent and Bill) for reading what I have to say and even though I disagree with the content, I am a fan and dedicated reader. Brett Miler
Brett:
Somehow the perspective of victims and their loved ones is lost to you. Compassion is a wonderful thing, but who deserves the compassion, the little girl who was kidnapped, raped and murdered, or the habitual offender that did that to her? The American justice system gives offenders multiple chances to turn away from crime and a 25-to life sentence is the consequence for ignoring those chances. Most of the people in this country who grow up poor, who have been discriminated against, who have had difficult childhoods, who have been failed by public education, do not commit crimes. When they are attacked by criminals who have ignored repeated chances to avoid crime, it is an example of society’s misplaced priorities. For some, the only way to get beyond righteous compassion for the criminal who “but for the grace of God” we are all capable of becoming, is to lose a loved one or a friend to a murderer enjoying his second or third chance at freedom. How many victims should a criminal be allowed to create before you stop feeling sorry for him?
Hi Michael – Thank you for responding so quickly. I know you think that your perspective is victim friendly (more criminals in prison for longer sentences supposedly equals longer sentences) but I just tend to take a wider perspective. I think that not all victims are in board with the long and longer sentence philosophy and that we should try to reconcile the natural human desire to punish people harshly (even though it may be futile) with the reality that a more compassionate society may in the long run have less crime because of the fact that a more compassionate society may be more humane and more willing to recognize the fact that some people, through no fault of their own, may be more inclined to commit crime than others and that we should help them desist from crime. If I or someone close to me was a crime victim, I would want to make sure that the deficits that caused the wrongdoer were remedied so that the wrongdoer would be able to be a productive citizen and be able to move beyond their past even though a prison sentence may ultimately be necessary. Brett Miler
This reminds me of a story of a man who was severely mauled by two chimpanzees at an animal sanctuary in 2005. He survived, but with permanent and horrible injuries. Following the attack, his sobbing wife told ABC news, “One was at his head, one was at his foot. But all that time … he was trying to reason with them.”
You are welcome to the last word.