Making the punishment fit the crime
President George W. Bush’s decision to commute the prison sentences of two former Border Patrol agents, convicted in the shooting of a suspected Mexican drug smuggler in 2005, seems a just use of presidential pardoning power. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were convicted on a number of charges related to the shooting of the suspect who was trying to escape from Texas across the Rio Grande. Trial testimony showed Ramos and Compean tried to cover up the shooting and tampered with evidence. They have served about two years in prison. They became poster material in the national immigration debate. Conservative talk show hosts denounced as unduly harsh the sentences the agents received for conduct while attempting to protect the country’s southern border. Bush administration officials believed the convictions just, which is why the president commuted the sentences instead of issuing outright pardons. Certainly, Ramos and Compean made mistakes and deserved to be punished. President Bush’s action properly limits their punishment without signaling that the agents’ misdeeds are in any way condoned.
Poling place
With all the serious business facing lawmakers in this year of economic challenge, the plight of the barber pole may seem insignificant. But those revolving striped poles are serious business year-round for barbers. State Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City, wants to make sure the poles stay exclusively linked to the barbering business, the Tulsa World reports. Banz got the idea from his barber, who is also chairman of the Oklahoma Barber Advisory Board. The bill would restrict barber poles to shops with licensed barbers, preventing other hair cut providers from using them. First offense would carry a warning. Subsequent violations would carry a fine. We must admit to ignorance when it comes to knowing this was a problem or even that the state has a Barber Advisory Board, one of more than 500 state agencies, boards and commissions. If anything needs a shave, it’s that number. Still, trimming the inappropriate use of barber poles may be worth a hearing in the 2009 legislative session. We hope, though, that lawmakers won’t take too much off the sides of time when they mull this hairy issue.
New drug court in Tulsa
The Tulsa County Drug Court has begun a program aimed at helping veterans kick their addictions. The Veterans Treatment Court docket began this week. The head of the Tulsa chapter of Disable American Veterans told the Tulsa World that fallout from active duty is what leads many vets to get into trouble in the first place. Drug courts are an effective way to keep nonviolent offenders out of jail and allow them a chance to turn their lives around. The judge who will preside over Tulsa’s new court says about one-third of the 158 veterans who entered the criminal justice system in October would have been eligible for the program. Tulsa is just the fourth city to implement a drug court for veterans. Kudos and good luck.
Born in the U.S.A.
<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> The U.S. Supreme Court isn’t buying the latest claim that President-elect Barack Obama was born outside the United States and is constitutionally barred from serving as chief executive. It rejected an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says Obama was born Kenya and not Hawaii, as Obama and Aloha State officials confirm. Leo Donofrio is an equal-opportunity fly in the ointment. He argues Republican John McCain and Socialist candidate Roger Calero aren’t natural-born citizens and also were ineligible for the presidency. Other similar challenges to Obama’s citizenship have come and gone, with USA Today reporting at least one more is still out there. Time, we think, to give it a rest.
Stevens verdict increases GOP woe
Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens’ conviction Monday on corruption charges almost certainly ends his nearly 40 years in the U.S. Senate and further fuels Democratic hopes of reaching a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority there. Stevens, 84, wanted a quick trial on charges he lied about free home renovations performed by an oil contractor. He hoped to beat the rap with enough time before Election Day to defend a Senate seat he has held since December 1968. That was dashed by the jury’s verdict. Even before the conviction Stevens was only even with Democratic challenger Mark Begich. His new status as convict means Alaska’s seat is all but in the bag for Democrats looking to increase their Senate majority. Stevens made a career of bringing federal dollars to Alaska. But he was widely seen as increasingly arrogant and one who had stayed in Washington too long. With Alaska likely gone and GOP incumbents in Minnesota, North Carolina and possibly Georgia in tough races, Democrats have a reasonable shot at reaching a 60-vote majority that would let them pass bills without worrying about Republicans using Senate rules to block work on objectionable legislation. What already was a strong Democratic year got stronger.
Man no stranger to DUI charges
Eight strikes and you’re still not out. At least that’s the case for Jeff W. Laughlin of Lexington, who in the past 22 years has had eight felony convictions for driving under the influence and yet remains a free man. Laughlin’s luck may be running out. He now faces two more DUI charges in Cleveland County, where Assistant District Attorney Greg Mashburn says, “I would think that prison would be the only option for this defendant.” Laughlin’s attorney says his client spent some time in prison years ago and has gone through rehab. Laughlin, 46, told The Oklahoman’s Nolan Clay that he’s not a drunk anymore. “Just for the record, there won’t be any drinking and driving, or taking any kind of drugs and driving, or taking any drugs whatsoever. That’s a thing of the past for me,” he said. Laughlin spoke one day after appearing in court on the latest DUI charge, stemming from a rollover accident last week in which the Highway Patrol found pills and an open can of beer in the van. Prosecutor Mashburn said DUI is the only crime that can result in multiple convictions but no time behind bars. “It may strike the public as odd,” he said. He’s right about that.
Prison cell phones a problem
The head of South Carolina’s prison system, Jon Ozmint, wants to be able to jam cell phone signals so inmates who get their hands on such phones can’t use them. Seems simple enough, but it isn’t. The Associated Press reports that the federal Communications Act prevents states from interfering with federal airwaves. The FCC can give federal agencies the OK to do so, but not state and local authorities.”It’s just hypocrisy beyond the pale of reason that the big, bad federal government goes, ‘Oh, well, we can use this technology, but your poor little states can’t use the same technology to protect your citizens,” Ozmint told AP.
He blames use of contraband cell phones for most of the state’s prison escapes. In a high-profile case in Maryland, a Baltimore man who identified a shooting suspect was gunned down after the man he fingered used a cell phone from prison to order the hit.
Here in Oklahoma, prison spokesman Jerry Massie says cell phones are found frequently behind bars. The Department of Corrections has unsuccessfully sought legislation in recent years to make it a felony to smuggle or possess cell phones in prison. The agency is trying to contract for training dogs to detect the phones, Massie says.
The AP interviewed critics of Ozmint’s proposal who said you can’t contain jamming technology to just a few buildings, or that jamming might affect internal radio communications. Others say jammers could easily be angled in a way that allows someone standing outside to make a call, if needed.
Ozmint’s frustration is obvious. “As long as you have human beings in prison as inmates and employees, and as long as there are human beings on the outside of those prisons, you’re going to have contraband in prison,” he said. “This is a threat that can be absolutely eliminated.”
Nebraska’s about-face
It didn’t take long for Nebraska lawmakers to realize the huge mistake they made with their safe-haven law. Intended to protect unwanted children, the broadly written law wound up providing an out for parents – some from other states – who didn’t want to deal with unruly or high-maintenance kids. Some as old as 17 wound up being dumped at Nebraska hospitals. One widowed father of 10, overwhelmed and out of work, left nine of his children at one Omaha hospital. Now that state’s governor and legislators have agreed to rewrite the law so it applies to infants up to 3 days old. The statute has had “serious, unintended consequences” and “needs to be changed to focus on infants,” Gov. Dave Heineman said. No kidding. It’s hard to believe the powers that be didn’t see this coming when they wrote the original bill. Heineman doesn’t want to call a special session to fix it, but says he could change his mind if the out-of-state dropoffs continue. Read more about the law here.
First amendment meets style
Designer’s challenge
We admit to issuing a small chuckle when we heard Oklahoma interior designers were filing a lawsuit citing the First Amendment. Did they not like the colors of ink chosen for The Oklahoman’s new look? The layout? Actually it’s a what’s-in-a-name dispute. The Communications Institute of Justice (CIJ) is suing on behalf of three Oklahoma interior designers for “the right to truthfully describe what they do for a living.” They say their free speech rights are thwarted by Oklahoma law banning interior designers from calling themselves interior designers unless they obtain a license. On one side of the dispute is the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), which apparently likes licensure. On the other is the CIJ, which apparently wants more freedom from government regulation. The ASID is effectively a cartel, the plaintiffs say in a suit drawn up for filing in Oklahoma City federal court. CIJ won a similar suit in New Mexico, that state to the west which offers a designer’s dream in its stunning and colorful array of mountains, plateaus and deserts.
