Dear Editor,
May I take a moment to comment about a column in the January 1 edition of The Beacon?
Sonya Pyles wrote an article entitled “Oklahoma Has An Incarceration Crisis: Let’s Fix It.” I grew up in Washita County and spent the first 63 years of my life in Oklahoma. Ms. Pyles says “the root of our incarceration crisis” is sentence enhancements. She says people “accused of crimes” often have years “stacked on top” of their sentences “if they have ever been convicted of a crime in the past.”
I think she is referring to sentences aimed at repeat offenders. I recall a time in Oklahoma when the public became outraged after convicted offenders were released, only to commit more crimes. After arrest, they were sentenced, then released - only to commit more crimes. No one is liable to longer sentences unless they are deemed by the court to be a repeat offender.
The “crisis” Ms. Pyles writes about is not caused by sentencing guidelines, it is caused by repeat offenders. If they would stop committing crimes, they would not be in jail in the first place!
Ms. Pyles says these sentences “are applied... purely by the prosecution.” Oh please. Sentences are handed down by judges after conviction by jurors who have heard both the prosecution and the defense. The prosecution can recommend, but defense attorneys can counter that recommendation. Judges, not prosecutors, issue sentences. Ms. Pyles says this “cri
Ms. Pyles says this “crisis is tearing apart families.” Not so. Lawbreakers tear apart their own families by consciously, deliberately, and intentionally choosing to violate the law.
Ms. Pyles is sympathetic to those behind bars. They put themselves there. I am sympathetic to law-abiding citizens. They are the innocent victims in this story. The measure Ms. Pyles supports concerns “non-violent” crime. Different people define “non-violent” crime differently. Auto theft? Cattle rustling? Burglary? Identity theft? Embezzlement? Fraud? Any crime can be traumatic and catastrophic for the victim. Oklahoma does not need more victims.
I no longer live in Oklahoma, so I do not have a vote in this matter, but there is a reason enhanced sentencing statutes become law. Oklahomans should carefully consider the issue and ask themselves what may result if convicted repeat offfenders are released onto the streets. How many will return to their old ways? If that happens, who will benefit? Who will be the next victim?
C.W. Schmidt
LaRue, Texas