Abolishing parole in S.C.

Ideas and solutions that work should be models to be shared and refined. When President Ronald Reagan signed legislation to abolish parole in the federal system in 1984, he recognized that the existing sentencing and parole system was adding to rising crime rates and was fundamentally unfair to the victims of crime and to the public. This was a major shift in criminal justice policy and served as inspiration for changes I advocated during my campaign for governor of Virginia in 1993. Parole abolition and truth-in-sentencing have worked to make Virginians safer and brought credibility to the justice system. They will work now for South Carolina, where leaders are proposing similar changes for the Palmetto State.

When I became governor of Virginia in 1994, our Commonwealth had experienced a 28 percent increase in criminal violence over the previous five years. Rising crime, fear, and frustration were the results of a lenient and dishonest justice system that did not take punishment seriously and allowed early-release parole to create a revolving door for criminals.

First-time convicted criminals were eligible for parole after serving a quarter to as little as one-fifth of their sentence. First-degree murderers sentenced to 35 years spent an average of only 10 years in prison. Offenders sentenced to “life” could become eligible for parole after serving between 12 and 15 years. More than 75 percent of all violent criminals in the system in 1993 had prior convictions. Because of parole and almost automatic good time credit, no one — not the judge, the prosecutor, the juries, or the victims and their families — had any real idea of how much of the prison sentence a convicted criminal would actually serve.

In 1994, we succeeded in abolishing this dishonest parole system, increasing time served for violent crime and instituting “truth-in-sentencing,” which guaranteed that felons would serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. For the first time, there was certainty in what a sentence really meant. Inmates can still earn up to 15% “good time” credit on their sentences. Repeat violent offenders are serving sentences two to three times longer than before our reforms. Meanwhile, we overhauled the correctional classification system, building low-cost work centers for low-risk, minimum-security, non-violent offenders.

More than ten years later, what are the results of these changes? First-degree murderers now serve 91 percent of their sentences in prison with a median time served of 32 years, rather than 12 years with parole. A sentence of “life in prison” now essentially means just that. Truth-in-sentencing fosters trust in our justice system. Judges and juries do not have to play guessing games when determining sentences. Police and crime victims have a firm idea of when a criminal will be released. Victims need not fearfully plead every year to the parole board not to release the felon. Rational and consistent sentencing fosters public confidence in our criminal justice system.

Best of all, there are thousands of people who are not victims of criminals. Since 1995, the violent crime rate in Virginia has declined by nearly 23 percent. The murder rate is down by 30 percent, and forcible rape rate has dropped by more than 15 percent. This is a logical result when one realizes that most crimes were being committed by repeat offenders. If a rapist is in prison, serving now an average sentence of 18 years rather than six, he can’t be lurking in a parking garage waiting for his next victim.

Moreover, parole abolition and truth-in-sentencing did not drastically increase our prison population, as many critics feared when the reforms were enacted. As compared to a prison population that increased by 154 percent between 1985 and 1995, growth in Virginia’s prison population slowed to 31 percent between 1995 and 2004. State officials predict an annual average growth in the prison population of 2.8 percent over next six years — much less than originally forecast, and lower than the national average.

Based on this success in Virginia and in other states, elected officials in South Carolina are advocating a similar change to their sentencing system. Attorney General Henry McMaster and legislators are fighting to abolish parole and to institute truth in sentencing so that all convicted criminals must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Instilling honesty, consistency, and fairness for all in the criminal justice system is a goal that serves all citizens. As it did in Virginia, parole abolition and truth-in-sentencing can accomplish this goal for law-abiding South Carolinians by reducing the number of victims of crimes committed by criminals released early. For those who claim longer sentences are undesirable, ask them which convicted criminal they would like to rent a room in their home or move into their neighborhood.

Mr. Allen served as Virginia’s governor and U.S. senator. He is currently the Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar for Young America’s Foundation (www.yaf.org).