Catholics have the answer to crime, and that answer is Jesus Christ. J. O. Partain, Jr., veteran member of the state Pardons and Parole Board, recently spoke to members of the Catholic Lawyers Guild, giving his views on crime and the state's controversial parole system.

Stating that an increase in crime was due to such factors as lack of discipline, background, education and environment, Partain said Americans are today witnessing an erosion of the moral fibers of the nation. He said the country is getting away from God, adding that children are not being exposed to moral and spiritual training. Although one cannot teach religion in public schools, they can, Partain said, teach moral values.

Noting that he rarely runs into a Catholic in prison, Partain said the best deterrent imaginable for crime is religion. "Without it, all we have is fear," he stated. He forcefully called for the need to evangelize the community, the state and the nation and dispel the notion that Christ is a white man's God.

Partain, first named to the Pardon and Parole Board by former Governor Lester Maddox and reappointed by former Governor Jimmy Carter, told the Catholic Lawyers that an additional force against crime is the emphasis Catholics place on the family.

Urging that parents refrain from spoiling their child, he asked that young people be taught the value of denying themselves. Of all adult male criminals, he reported, 98% go into a life of crime between the ages of eight and 18. Know where your children are, he requested, urging his audience to communicate with their children, talk to them and listen to them. He asked that parents not defend them when they are wrong; stay up 'till they come in at night and teach them the meaning of patriotism.

Partain said crime is a state of mind and rehabilitation is worthless unless one works on the mind, an almost impossible task when the person is an adult.

Partain was outspoken in his comments on the state parole system which he labeled a "rip-off." He said taxpayers are unaware they are being gypped and charged that the system has little parole supervision at all. Without supervision, he said, one cannot have parole. He charged the present method merely lets people out of prison early to go various and sometimes criminal ways. He added that he quality of investigations had seriously deteriorated to the point that some are meaningless and misleading.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Partain reported, the reorganization of state government put the field services and probation department under corrections. This, he maintained, put parole supervisors in the position of serving corrections, judges and the parole board.

He said that since the corrections board hires the people, pays them, and also fires them, their allegiance to the Parole Board comes last. The board, he added, therefore has people it doesn't hire, train or supervise. This position he described as awkward and unworkable.

Partain recommended that the field supervision and investigation aspect be returned to the board. Failing this, he said, the system will collapse. The corrections system, Partain said, is not working, as evidenced by the continuous reorganization (every few months) and the consequent upset caused among employees.