Weekly Opinion Editorial
DON’T SIGN 805!
By Steve Fair
On Saturday, I was approached by a nice
looking young man in a Wal-Mart parking lot asking me if I was a registered
voter in Oklahoma. “I am, are you?” I
asked him. “I am registered to vote,” he
replied. “Do you live in Oklahoma?” I
asked. “Yes, I do- in Norman,” he
said. “Would you consider signing
criminal justice reform initiative petition #805 and by signing would help get
it on the November ballot?” he asked. “No,
I replied. I am familiar with #805 and
do not agree with what it would do,” I said.
“Thank you and have a nice day,” the young man said as he scurried
across the parking lot to a couple. Three observations:
First, I like to see young people engaged
in the political process, no matter what their political leanings. I suspect the young man was being compensated
to carry a clipboard and gather signatures, but perhaps not. We need more young people involved in the
political arena, and those who will learn the most will do the ‘boots on the
ground’ work necessary to get candidates elected and issues on the ballot.
Second, I appreciate that Oklahoma has an
initiative petition process. Less than
half the states in the U.S. allow their citizens to initiate legislation through the
petition process. The number of
signatures is tied to the total votes cast for governor in the last
gubernatorial election. To amend the
state constitution, petitioners must gather 178,000 signatures in a 90 day
period. If they get 95,000, they can have
a state statue considered on the ballot.
It is a process that allows the citizen voters in Oklahoma to go around
the legislature if they want. That
happened with SQ #640, which most legislators hate, but without it, Oklahoma
citizens would be paying more taxes.
Third, State Question #805 is not right
for Oklahoma. If approved by the voters
and became law, it would end ‘enhancement sentencing.’ Enhancement sentencing is an option available
to prosecutors in which they take into account a defendant’s criminal history
and if a pattern of offenses are found, stricter punishments are sought.
An example of the impact of SQ #805 would have if enhancement sentencing
is eliminated is the driver of the pick-up that plowed into the Moore High
School track team that killed three. If
#805 would have been law, the act would not have been considered a violent and
the driver would have not faced as severe charges. Michael Freeman, the father of Rachel Freeman who was
killed in the incident, said habitual offenders shouldn't catch a break and
that their punishment should grow with each conviction. “Are we going to focus on public safety, or are we going to focus on
the prison population?” Freeman said.
That is an excellent question.
“These
are crimes like domestic violence, like child trafficking, like hate crimes,
animal cruelty, repeat drunk drivers, drunk drivers who hit and hurt someone
causing great bodily injuries. We should not ignore a person who continues to
engage in habitual criminal behavior and not consider that when we seek
sentencing,” Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks says.
So when those nice young people seek you
out to sign #805,politely decline and attempt to educate them on the ‘unintended
consequences’ of letting habitual criminals get by with lesser sentences. It means they are loose in our communities,
not locked up where they belong.
