MADD SAYS DRUNKEN DRIVERS SHOULDN'T BE ELIGIBLE FOR EARLY RELEASE

TULSA (AP) -- More than 170 people convicted of drunken driving, including
repeat offenders, are on a list of prison inmates who may be freed as part
of a commutation program. Gov. Frank Keating has asked that inmates
eligible for early release be nonviolent offenders with no violent crimes.

The state executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving says drunk
drivers shouldn't be classified as nonviolent offenders.

"This is one of the most frequently occurring violent crimes in our
country," Susan Henderson told the Tulsa World. "If they haven't harmed or
killed anyone yet, it's completely by chance."

Henderson said Keating has been a supporter of MADD so she hopes he will
reconsider releasing drunken drivers.

"I want him to realize what this will mean for the safety of our roads and
what it will say to others about the consequences of drinking and driving,"
she said.

In a letter Monday to the state Pardon and Parole Board, Keating proposed
commuting the sentences of slightly more than 1,000 inmates as a way to
deal with budget shortfalls confronting the Department of Corrections.

An analysis of the list of inmates under consideration shows that Tulsa
County ranked first, with 279 inmates who were convicted in the county.
Oklahoma County ranked second, with 175 inmates.

Keating asked that inmates be selected under these criteria: no current or
past convictions for violent crimes, including as a juvenile; no more than
one prior felony incarceration; a term of five years or less left to serve;
no detainers from other jurisdictions; no delayed sentences; and no drug
trafficking convictions.

Most of the inmates under consideration are drug offenders, including
several convicted of distributing drugs within 1,000 feet of a park or
school. Other crimes on the list include eluding a police officer, running
a roadblock and various weapons offenses.

More than 170 people with DUI convictions, including several serving time
for multiple DUIs, also are on the list.

Included is Steven Wayne Hambrick, who was convicted three times this year
in Rogers County of driving under the influence, records show. He also
pleaded no contest in 1997 to a DUI charge in Rogers County and received a
deferred sentence.

Hambrick, 45, is in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and is
scheduled to be released in 2005.

Dan Mahoney, a spokesman for Keating, said the list of inmates "could
certainly be pared down even farther."