After repeated break-ins to his Durham restaurant, Edward DeVito got that sneaking suspicion that he had not really left the crime of his former home.
DeVito arrived in North Carolina four years ago in an effort to flee what he saw as the crime-ridden Northeast. He left New York after a failed robbery attempt of his party goods store. During the robbery, the would-be thief placed a gun to DeVito's wife's head and cocked the hammer back, before a customer entered and frightened off the assailant.
DeVito hoped that life in the South would be safer for him and his family. After repeated break-ins at his restaurant, he found out very quickly that it would not. As a result, he formed a group called Merchants and Citizens Fighting Crime.
Last week, the organization made the boldest move in its one-year history. On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the group filed a complaint in the Wake County Superior Court calling for a class action trial against the highest ranking current and former officials in the N.C. state government.
The suit names as defendants Governor Jim Hunt, Attorney General Michael Easely, former Governor Jim Martin, former Attorney General Lacy Thornburg and three others.
The governor's office declined to comment on direct questions concerning the suit.
The plaintiffs are not seeking any punitive damages. The purpose of the suit is to prove the unconstitutionality of the Inmate Release Statute.
Plaintiffs in the suit allege that The Emergency Prison Population Stabilization Act, another name for the statute, creates what amounts to a prison cap.
When the N.C. prison system exceeds 98 percent of a certain number of inmates--currently 21,200--for 15 consecutive days, the secretary of the North Carolina Department of Correction must direct the parole commission to release prisoners until capacity reaches 97 percent.
"We hope to remove the prison cap law, in other words, have it struck down as unconstitutional," DeVito said. "By doing that, when a prisoner gets sentenced, they won't be able to release him based on a `magic number."'
DeVito claimed that Hunt supported the group's cause, even though Hunt is a defendant in the case. The governor's office denied this allegation, but acknowledged Hunt's concern over the issue.
R.B. Nicholson of Winston-Salem has been involved in the fight for victims' rights in North Carolina since his son's murder in 1988. As an active member of Merchants and Citizens Fighting Crime, he supports the lawsuit, but he is skeptical that it will achieve its primary goal.
"I think that the best thing the lawsuit can do is increase public awareness," Nicholson said. "I don't think there is any possibility that the lawsuit will remove the prison cap."
DeVito said he is convinced that, even if it means a massive increase in prison facilities, criminals should have to serve out their entire sentences for there to be any chance of proper rehabilitation for repeat offenders.
Until the state adopts his approach, DeVito will continue to lay the blame for North Carolina's crime rate in the hands of the state government.
"I blame every murder, rape and robbery that happens on the state legislature, because it's their fault for letting these people out," DeVito said. "They're really responsible for these crimes just as much as the criminals."
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