Atty. Gen. Reno Calls on U.S. to ‘Invest in Children’

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno wrapped up a campaign-style two-day swing through Los Angeles Saturday with a spirited call for the nation to shift its law enforcement focus toward “investment� in children and the prevention of crime.

“America would rather build prisons than invest in a child, and we’ve got to change that,� Reno said in a speech to the National Women’s Political Caucus. “Unless we invest in children, we will never have enough dollars to build all the prisons necessary to house people 15 and 20 years from now.�

Those remarks, which underscore themes Reno has emphasized throughout her tenure, again illustrated how sharply her agenda clashes with those of her Republican predecessors. Over the past 12 years, Republican attorneys general have for the most part emphasized tougher mandatory sentences, prison construction and expansion of the death penalty as responses to concerns about crime.

To some extent, Reno’s remarks also clashed with arguments made by President Clinton on the campaign trail. In her speech, Reno did not mention Clinton’s campaign promise to add 100,000 police officers--an idea that she has questioned.

Instead, she stressed her support for programs aimed at preventing crime--such as family intervention and anti-truancy efforts--as well as broader measures to improve opportunities for disadvantaged children, such as expansion of prenatal and preventive health care.

“We have got to make an investment in parents so that they are old enough, wise enough and financially able enough to take care of those children,� she said.

In comments to reporters before her address, Reno also continued to question the broad use of mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr., who is black, asserted to Reno at a town meeting in Los Angeles that the strict sentencing guidelines were having a disproportionate and unfair impact on young black men.

Reno didn’t comment directly on Hatter’s charge but noted that a study conducted in Florida found racially discriminatory patterns in the application of that state’s minimum sentencing guidelines. “I am very concerned about these matters,� said Reno, a former state attorney in Florida’s Dade County.

Congressional Democrats are likely to attempt to roll back the use of mandatory minimum sentences in the debate over crime legislation--a move certain to provoke a polarizing clash with conservative Republicans.

Reno’s appearance clearly was the emotional highlight of the four-day National Women’s Political Caucus conference, which concludes today. Reno’s remarks drew raucous applause. When the first female attorney general finished, the women stood on chairs to wave napkins in the air.