THE RIGHT CALL

Gov. Keating made the right call in refusing to commute the sentence of a
drug trafficker. He overruled a Pardon and Parole Board recommendation to
make Larry Yarbrough eligible for release after serving as little as six
years. Yarbrough is serving life without parole, a sentence the board found
unusually harsh given that he was convicted after police found him in
possession of about an ounce of cocaine.

But there was more to the story than that. Yarbrough's harsh sentence was
not due to the specific crime for which he was convicted in 1997. It was
due to his criminal history.

He had five prior felony convictions and qualified for prosecution under
the state's drug trafficking law. For that reason he received a mandatory
maximum sentence.

The Legislature established the sentence, and it's incumbent on the
governor to see that the law is maintained unless and until it's repealed.
Publicity given this case may indeed lead to discussions of a repeal.

But that's irrelevant to the Yarbrough case. It's not the job of Pardon and
Parole Board members to set aside laws with which they don't agree.

If the law needs to be changed, let's talk about it. In the meantime, let's
enforce it. Keating did.