SNAKE-OIL SHOW

To the Editor:

Oklahoma prisons are close to crisis levels in relation to the state
budget. How is it that Minnesota, with a population of 5 million, has 6,000
inmates while Oklahoma, with a population of 3.4 million, has 23,000
convicts? Are Oklahomans really that heinous? Not really, because 60
percent of inmates in our system are there for nonviolent offenses.

The corrections budget for 2001 was $347 million. If the judicial and law
enforcement mechanisms were included, it would be nearly $1 billion. Think
it doesn't affect you? It affects everyone in the state, in the manner that
social services programs are being cut to fund the corrections budget.

It's time for legislators, judges and district attorneys to get off the
"punishment at any cost" traveling snake-oil show and come up with solutions.

Kevin Bishop, Shawnee