PROSPECTS FOR PAROLE SLIMMER

Fewer State Inmates Win Nods From Board, Approval From Keating

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Inmates holding out for parole appear to have a
slimmer chance than ever of obtaining one.

For repeat and violent offenders, the outlook is worse.

The percentage of inmates the Pardon and Parole Board has recommended
to Gov. Frank Keating for consideration hit at least a four-year low.
And the Republican governor's recommendation rate also hit a four-year
low.

When Keating took office in 1995, the Pardon and Parole Board,
appointed by his predecessor David Walters, was recommending 26.6
percent of the inmates who appeared before it. That figure has dropped
to a single digit -- 9.6 percent as of July.

Inmates who get a favorable recommendation from the board still have
to get approval from the governor before they are paroled.

Of the 1,274 candidates Keating reviewed in 1995, he approved 81.5
percent, a figure that has dropped to 67 percent as of July. Keating's
approval rate has seen a steady decline since he took office.

Keating has appointed the entire board, selecting members he thought
were "fair but tough."

"I am confident they are fair," he said. "The statistics suggest they
are tough."

The low approval rate has some families of inmates complaining that
Keating has a "throw-away-the-key" mentality.

"They have complained about the board being conservative," says J.D.
Daniels, Pardon and Parole Board deputy director. "The board takes
these cases on their own merits and votes its conscience."

Keating, a former U.S. attorney and FBI agent who has held numerous
federal jobs, makes no apologies for his conservative approval rate,
saying, "I despise crime and criminals." He adds, "I am the only
governor in the state's history to arrest, prosecute and supervise"
prisons.

Corrections has long used the prospects for parole as a "carrot and
stick" to control behavior of inmates behind bars.

The number of misconducts on an inmate's prison record is made
available to the Pardon and Parole Board, as well as the number of
programs an inmate has completed, victims' concerns, inmate support
letters and district attorney opinions.

Keating appears to put little faith in parole as a behavior control
tool, saying the prospects for restrictive housing or being placed in
segregation for inmates who act out behind bars is enough motivation
to keep them in line.

Keating has a few rules of thumb when considering inmates for
parole.

Although the board may give an inmate a favorable recommendation, he
will deny parole if the Pardon and Parole Board investigator doesn't
recommend it.

He says inmates may be able to put on a good face for the board, but
the investigator really knows what is going on.

First time, non-violent offenders have a shot. Chronic repeat
offenders, whom Keating calls "walking crime waves," don't. Also,
violent offenders have little chance of being turned loose.

"Some forfeit the right to be out," Keating said.

Some 81 percent of those sent to prison in fiscal year 1998 were
sentenced for a non-violent offense, according to Department of
Corrections records. And of all fiscal year 1998 inmates who went into
the system, 33 percent were for drug offenses, according to department
records.

Other fiscal year 1998 figures include the following: 12 percent were
incarcerated for larceny; 9 percent for drunken driving; 9 percent for
second-degree burglary; 8 percent for fraud; 6 percent for assault; 5
percent for sex crimes; and 4 percent for robbery; and 2 percent for
murder.

Keating's theory on corrections is that its first purpose is for
punishment.

Rehabilitation is a factor for those who some day will be released,
but not for those who have long sentences or those who will never be
released.

Rehabilitation, Keating says, is not to correct antisocial behavior
for those who will never get out of prison.

Overall, he says the process works well.

"The crime rate is down in every category," Keating said. "It is not
due to the economy, but because we are very careful as to who we release."

He also has an interesting observation, saying there is no vigilantism
because people know the system is working.

Barbara Hoberock can be reached at (405) 528-2465.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry