Dukakis Urges Bail Curbs for Massachusetts : Acts to Blunt Issue of Crime Amid Furor Over Child-Kidnaping Case

Democratic presidential nominee and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, moving to preempt further Republican attacks on the crime issue, Tuesday announced that he will submit legislation to tighten his state’s bail system.

Dukakis was responding to public furor over recent abductions of children committed by a man who had pleaded guilty to sex crimes and then had been released on bail.

His proposal would “ensure that no person who is convicted or pleads guilty is let out on bail” unless the judge explains, in a formal, written opinion, why release is appropriate in that specific case, Dukakis told a press conference here.

The action stood in sharp contrast to Dukakis’ slow reaction to an earlier breakdown in the criminal justice system--the escape last year of a murderer let out of prison on a 48-hour furlough. The convict, Willie Horton, fled to Maryland and raped a woman there, and the case has been one of the GOP’s major weapons in trying to paint Dukakis as a “soft-on-crime” liberal.

Admits No Mistake

Dukakis eventually accepted legislation to prohibit the furloughing of murderers, but only after he was forced to, and he has yet to concede that he erred in the handling of that issue.

Aides, however, have acknowledged that the Horton case has been a source of continuing political trouble, and say they do not want to see such a problem crop up again.

Richard E. Gardner, 21, pleaded guilty in June to kidnaping and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy. He was freed on $3,000 bail pending sentencing.

Last week, Gardner was charged with kidnaping and assaulting two boys in Rhode Island. After his arrest Monday morning, he was charged with two more crimes--abducting a third boy in Rhode Island and attempting to seize a young girl in Massachusetts.

“It may have been an isolated incident,” Dukakis said at the press conference, but the new legislation is important to guarantee that judges make “reasoned decisions” before potentially dangerous offenders are released.

Budget Doubts Resurface

Dukakis also faced renewed questioning about the state budget. Two weeks ago, on the eve of the Democratic convention, Dukakis approved the budget for the current fiscal year, but only after he vetoed several popular spending programs. Restive legislators have been trying to round up the votes to override at least one of those vetoes--involving state aid to cities and towns--but Dukakis has predicted failure for those efforts.

“That veto will not be overridden,” he said.

Dukakis also defended the state’s decision to borrow $200 million this month to pay its bills. He said the borrowing reflected only a temporary cash shortage, not an overall problem with the budget, which he said is balanced.

Fiscal experts, however--including many Democrats--have been skeptical of the revenue estimates on which the current Massachusetts budget was based. They say the estimates are far too optimistic and that further spending cuts or new taxes eventually will be needed.