Senator wants rioters barred from college

After the Duke Blue Devils up-ended Michigan State University's men's basketball team in the semifinals of the NCAA men's basketball tournament on March 26, students flooded East Lansing streets and set countless fires across campus that burned long into the night.

Under legislation now up for consideration in the state House, students like those convicted of inciting the riot will not be welcomed back - not only to MSU but also to any campus in the state.

A bill proposed by Sen. Loren Bennett (R-Canton) following the melee would allow judges to bar anyone found guilty of an offense related to a riot within 2,500 feet of a college campus from attending or visiting any public university or college in the state. The ban would last one year for misdemeanors and two years for felony convictions.

"My idea of success would be that if this bill is signed into law and 50 years from now no one had ever been punished under it and there had never been riotous behavior again," Bennett said.

The House Criminal Law and Corrections Committee sent the bill to the House floor Tuesday after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure in May.

Sen. Dianne Byrum (D-Onondaga), whose district includes MSU, voted in favor of the legislation, while Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.), whose district encompasses the University of Michigan, was one of six senators to vote against it.

Rep. Laura Baird (D-Okemos), the House committee's minority vice chair, said the bill places authority in the wrong hands.

"I think we should trust campuses to meter out their own punishments," said Baird, whose district also includes the MSU campus.

Baird said the legislation fails to address an apparent connection between increasing levels of education and decreasing instances of illegal and violent behavior.

"It seems really dumb to me to prohibit someone who has offended from an education," she said.

Rep. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) said her preliminary impression of the bill is that it does not focus on the primary causes of riots, such as excessive drinking.

"There are already criminal sanctions in place for this behavior," Brater said. "This is sort of a feel-good thing that wouldn't do a whole lot of good."

Bennett said he received a favorable reaction this week when he spoke about the proposal to a group of MSU students.

"They were embarrassed by what had happened on their campus, and they applauded this measure," he said.

The legislation, which Bennett expects to be signed into law in some form, would take effect March 1, 2000. A ban for those sentenced to prison for rioting would begin after their release.

"I'm not out for revenge. I'm not out to punish people," Bennett said. "But when they create problems for society, there needs to be a measure for response."

According to a House legislative analysis, both the Associated Students of MSU and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose the bill. The City of East Lansing officials testified before the criminal law committee in support of the proposal.

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