YOUR VIEWS

Reasons to skip parole

Regarding “Hundreds of inmates pass up parole chance” (News, March 25): The district attorneys in Cleveland and Oklahoma counties advocate for an end to this. As a person closely associated with someone who has done this very same thing, these two gentlemen could not be more wrong on this. The reason these prisoners refuse parole is because the parole system is onerous and overbearing, seemingly bent on returning felons to prison. They know parole is little more than a dedicated feeder system for a return to further incarceration and recidivism.

Finding work as a felon is already a severe challenge. Once even overcoming that obstacle and finding employment, most are hourly workers. Time taken off to see the parole officer means they get docked pay for this time away. On top of that, they must pay hundreds of dollars as costs of their supervision. Why wouldn’t inmates wait a little longer and stay out of the system that seems to set them up for failure and a swift return to incarceration?

Perhaps the real answer is let’s look at how the parole system is run.

Marcus L. Haberichter, Choctaw

Justice reform needed now

Regarding “Hundreds of inmates pass up parole chance” (News, March 25): Before I discharged from incarceration in 2009, I came up for parole in 2008 and waived it. The reason was simple. It was taking the governor so long to approve the parole that once approved, you would be within a couple of months of discharging the sentence. District attorneys say disallowing this would ease overcrowding and save money. However, the money saved from incarceration expenses would be eaten up by the hiring of new probation and parole officers and investigators, and most likely would cost more than any savings.

I am a former criminal who has changed and hasn’t been rearrested or gone back to prison since my discharge in 2009. I believe in changing. The programs available to inmates were unavailable to me. I only had a 10-year nonviolent sentence, so I didn’t have time to complete one, according to DOC. We should fund more programs and help give inmates returning to society a chance. Inmates need help and victims need help. Reform must happen now.

Chris Smith, Holdenville

An impressive display

Like many other sojourners, I’ve participated in teacher walkouts, women’s march, gay pride parade, Black Lives Matter march, climate walk and a prayer pilgrimage for immigrants.

However, I’ve never had as much hope for societal change as I did after last Saturday’s student-led March for Our Lives. I couldn’t have been prouder of our young people in Oklahoma City who led a throng of students, parents and folks from across the metro area in a walk of solidarity with 700-plus marches across the country. “The mass shootings generation,” as one Florida student calls the movement, is here to stay and, eventually, to vote. I may not live to see the fruits of these young peoples’ efforts, but I am more confident than ever that hope is on the way.

Sam Bowman, Oklahoma City

Government reform needed

Our lawmakers are considering what taxes to impose to pay for our bloated state government. Raising the tax on cigarettes is their “go to” tactic, and underscores their inability to tackle any real government reforms. Take the Department of Health, which was found last year to have misappropriated more than $30 million of taxpayer money. And let’s not ignore the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, a fund with over $1 billion used for programs including some that are meant to prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease. This sounds pretty good, right? But wait: A program funded by a grant from TSET provides free public relations services to promote free alcoholic drinks and other perks to customers of bars that ban smoking. So much for a dedication to healthy choices.

There is plenty of tobacco money to spend in Oklahoma right now. None of it goes to teacher pay raises. An increase in state accountability, not a tobacco tax, is what would be truly healthy for the state.

Corey Cooper, Durant Cooper is president of Indian Nation Wholesale Co.

Hold them responsible

In this financial mess the state is in, one thing that hasn’t been discussed publicly is the reason why we are where we are. Could it be due to rampant, unbridled corruption and incompetence at all levels of our state government? Sure seems like it. There was a pretty good budget surplus a little more than eight years ago and it evaporated rather quickly. And things have only gotten worse. Why is it that the state’s leadership is not held responsible for their actions?

I cannot wait for election time to get here.

John Wright, Choctaw