PRISONER RELEASE

Gov. Frank Keating is urging the immediate release of 1,000 prison inmates
to help ease the state's budget crisis.

His request is exactly on the mark. Corrections officials supplied a list
of 3,000 candidates for early release, but Keating said he has winnowed
that to about 1,000.

It is ironic that this is the same governor who came into office eight
years ago protesting early releases that had been used to keep prison costs
down.

Keating very early took a "lock 'em up and throw away the key" attitude.
When a convict on early release killed, the die was cast. Since, Oklahoma
has locked up thousands of inmates convicted of substance abuse, when they
should have been treated in rehabilitation institutions at far less cost
than what it requires to keep them in prison.

Corrections costs have soared by nearly 100 percent in recent years as a
result. The costs of corrections under this circumstance is a big reason
why other arms of government, including schools, are in dire financial straits.

But politics, never far from the governor's mind, dictated a "tough on
crime" posture.

Now, with only weeks left in his last term, the governor appears
"converted." Could it be that Gov. Keating no longer has to worry if some
prisoner on early release commits a dastardly crime? Hmmmm.