OPINION:
In “Virginia legislation could release hundreds of murderers” (Web, Feb. 9) Hans Bader writes that Virginia’s proposed “second-look” “law allows judges to cut sentences for criminals or release them after they have served 10 or 15 years — no matter how awful the crime they committed.” In practice, this law would benefit the state’s worst criminals, primarily habitual violent offenders.
State prisons are populated with mostly violent criminals. Criminals who get sentenced to more than 15 years are typically the state’s most violent offenders, including those convicted of murder, rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault. Many have multiple prior offenses. In fact, the only felony that generally carries a sentence of over 10 years is murder. In 2016 the median sentence for robbery was 3.2 years, and only 17 months for drug trafficking.
So the primary beneficiaries of Virginia’s “second-look” law will be murderers. While proponents of this law consider a 10-year sentence for any crime “extreme,” I doubt that most Virginians would agree, especially when it comes to murderers. It’s the sentence they deserved.
MICHAEL RUSHFORD
President, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
Sacramento, California
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