A Job for a Tough Guy

The ghost of Willie Horton haunted Gov. Gray Davis throughout his administration. Horton was the star of a Republican attack ad in the 1988 presidential campaign. Under then-Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, the Democratic candidate, the Massachusetts corrections department had granted the convicted murderer a weekend furlough in 1986. Horton escaped to Maryland and raped a woman. The GOP ad successfully used that experience to brand Dukakis as soft on criminals. Mindful of how that ad had helped doom Dukakis' political career, Davis made sure that no challenger could ever accuse him of coddling crooks.

By all accounts, Davis overdid it. He refused to commute any death sentences despite evidence of mitigating factors, vetoed nearly all paroles for killers and staunchly supported the application of the three-strikes law, even when a strike was a minor offense.

Horton's ghost shouldn't frighten Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Deservedly or not, his Republican roots and tough-guy persona on the big screen help insulate him from being attacked as soft on crime. In deciding whether to parole killers or send felons to prison for life for stealing a videotape, Schwarzenegger thus seems to enjoy the freedom to pursue justice without having to look over his shoulder at poll results.

True, Schwarzenegger is a supporter of capital punishment and is unlikely to stop executions. But on other issues, he's more likely to depart from Davis' hard-as-nails criminal justice policies.

Schwarzenegger's first two weeks in office provided evidence bolstering this possibility. The day after he was sworn in, the governor agreed to a court settlement that would keep thousands of nonviolent parole violators out of prison by requiring them to participate in drug treatment, despite opposition from the prison guards union and victims' rights advocates. Settlement negotiations had stalled under Davis.

Days into his administration, Schwarzenegger authorized parole of a killer who correctional authorities said posed no threat after 18 years in prison. In his second week, the governor approved the release of another murderer who prison officials determined was rehabilitated. Then, last week, Edward Alameida Jr.'s resignation as director of the California Department of Corrections opened up another opportunity for change. Critics had regarded him as too cozy with the prison guards union.