Senator questions group’s early-release radio ad

SALEM, Ore. - Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, said he wanted to make sure the public wasn’t getting bad information about Oregon’s early release law during Thursday’s second public hearing on Senate Bill 1007 and questioned the validity of a radio ad from a group that wants less time knocked off prisoners’ sentences.

The statewide radio ad put out by the Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance and voiced by its executive director, Tara Lawrence, referred to 33-year-old Demetrius Payton who was convicted for breaking into two apartments at the Willow Springs Apartments in Portland in 2008 and sexually assaulting a woman.

Payton was convicted in January of 2009 but was released early under the state’s early release law. Police rearrested him in mid-January of this year and alleged that he returned to the same apartments and sexually assaulted another woman after breaking into her apartment.

“A woman is asleep in her own apartment,” Lawrence said in the ad. “Suddenly, she’s attacked by a registered sex offender and convicted burglar. Even worse, he got out of prison early because of a law Oregon politicians passed.”

Prozanski said the ad implies that Payton allegedly reoffended during the time he would have still been in prison had he not been released early.

He pointed out during Thursday's hearing that Payton allegedly reoffended after his original release date and not during the window between that date and the date he was released under the earned time law.

“He (Payton) was slated to get out on the 26th (of November) under the 20 percent rule,” Prozanski said. “It was accelerated to Oct. 2. So he did get out earlier than the 20 percent rule, but the crime he is currently accused of now did not occur until January. So it would have occurred and did occur after he was released on the 20 percent.”

He asked the group’s representative, Doug Harcleroad, who is a retired district attorney from Lane County, what he was going to do about the ad. Harcleroad said he did not know because he had previously no knowledge about the dates and said he had gotten the information from a Jan. 14 Oregonian article. He said he would need to review the situation.

Phone calls to Harcleroad seeking comment and information on want he found out were not returned; however, the group’s executive director, Tara Lawrence, said even if the ad was wrong the group’s point is still valid.

“The bottom line is he is an individual that should not be on the streets,” Lawrence said. “Rates of recidivism are real. I think he demonstrates what a danger individuals who are career felons and criminals are to society.”

The current law, which was passed by the Legislature in the summer of 2009, allowed certain prisoners to earn up to 30 percent off their prison time for good behavior. Originally, prisoners could only earn up to 20 percent. Opponents of the 30 percent earned time law want lawmakers to return early release time to 20 percent.

Lawrence said she would even support 15 percent.

Those who support the 30 percent earned time say it helps give incentive to prisoners to be well-behaved and to work toward correcting their behavior.

“Those inmates who show a desire to learn skills, act appropriately during incarceration and develop quality release plans, consistently perform - on the whole - better,” said Scott Taylor, director of the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice. “I believe the use of earn time is one of the incentives that encourage inmates to take the first steps to change their behavior while incarcerated.”

But those who want prisoners only to have 20 percent or less time cut off from their sentences said having the law at 30 percent costs more and forces victims to relive the horror of the crime committed against them.

“When all is tallied, considering the monetary cost to the counties for processing these 4,500 cases; the cost to the state for indigent defense; the pain and the suffering for victims, not to mention the cost of new crimes and new victims, I believe that we will find that it was not at all worth it,” said Anne Pratt who spoke on behalf of Crime Victims United, an advocacy group for victims of crimes.

Lawrence said her group’s ad ran from Monday, Feb. 1 to Wednesday, Feb. 3. It is available on the group’s Web site.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will take up the issue again Monday morning at the Capitol.