Good vs. Bad . . .

. . . Good is losing.

After reading the last blog, my brother sent me this simple e-mail, "So, I guess it is better to be a bad person in Oklahoma than to be a good person." Yes. It does appear to be that way unfortunately. He says this from his safe state of Virginia. Meanwhile, back here in Oklahoma, our safety is in jeopardy.

There are many advantages given to the early release of offenders in the name of reform that is truly criminal, in my opinion. A rushed mass exodus from prison is just one. Where are all the advantages to the victims? Where is the never-ending abundance of money, good will, etc. toward the victims? How about we put all of that to the front of the system so we have fewer victims to start with? THAT would be priceless. That would be good. Or do we all have to turn bad?

Be bad and you deserve a get-out-of-jail-free card. No supervision or monitoring. Free to do whatever you want with no rules. And before you get-out-of-jail-free, you get another "first" according to the Governor's office. More than 200 people from 45 community partners, non-profits and state agencies attended transition fairs at 28 facilities to connect 781 inmates with the services they need after their sentences are commuted. Grant funding also got them valid DL's or ID's prior to release, instead of the standard after release.

Then if you are bad, you get help to pay your fines and court costs, free housing and treatment, medical assistance, etc. This is and always has been in effect for the bad guys. But for every one crime, there are numerous victims. Victims outnumber criminals, but the scales Lady Justice holds never favor the good guys. Heck, they are never really even equal. The scales are always favor the bad guys.

Finally, felons have always had the right to vote. It just had to start after they had served the full term imposed by the court, regardless of the amount of time served. Now, "persons convicted of a felony shall be eligible to register to vote when they have fully served their sentence of court-mandated calendar days …" This started November 1, 2019 in Oklahoma, just in time for the mass release. Score another one for the bad guys.

Yes, brother. It is apparently better to be a bad person in Oklahoma than to be a good. All I can say at this point is, God bless them. I hope and pray they all take full advantage of this historic "second" chance. I challenge you to prove you deserve to get-out-of-jail-free. In the meantime, I'm afraid all of us good guys will be paying the price of criminal reform. I purposely omit the word "justice."