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according to the Richmond papers, the Robb administration may push for legislation which would permit non-violent offenders to be paroled earlier. For several months, 'the governor’s ad-hoc committee has been looking into the parole law changes as a means of alleviating serious overcrowding in state prisons.
Guest has misgivings about easing parole standards. “It all depends on the type of criminal we’re talking about. What’s non-violent crime? Breaking and entering? That could be non-violent only because nobody was home when the criminal broke in.”
If laws governing parole eligibility are eased, Guest would like to see a screening requirement added similar to screening now being conducted prior to participation in local alternative service programs. “Automatics bother me,” he said, voicing opposition to legislation which would make certain classifications of non-violent offenders automatically eligible for early parole. “ Each individual offender should be considered on a personal basis," Guest said.
A “death with dignity” bill will come up in the General Assembly again' this year. The legislation recommended by a special study commissioned would give a person being kept alive by artificial means the right to order an end to those efforts. Guest noted that the bill, which is strongly opposed by some religious leaders, has been redubbed “The Natural Act.” “I’m not sure that the right to death with dignity has to be institutionalized into law. I think we may already have that right. But if it needs to be in the law, then I support it,” he said. In the face of stiffer competition between localities for declining highway money, odds are high that this session of the General Assembly will see an effort to alter the state’s allocation formula. “I think Pandora better not open that box,’’ warned Guest, referring to rural localities jumping on the change-theformula bandwagon. With the power in the legislature resting with urban centers. Guest predicted that any changes will be designed to benefit those same centers as well as rapidly growing districts. “I can’t foresee any
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