Justice Department grants should be denied to any state that furloughs from jail convicted murderers serving life sentences, Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, said Friday.

Hansen has joined as a co-sponsor of legislation taking a swipe at Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis."We have an obligation to protect the innocent from the criminal," Hansen added. "We need a national policy where the innocent are protected and the guilty punished."

Massachusetts has a program allowing jail furloughs under which at least one convict was let out who subsequently attacked a Maryland couple.

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