OK Corral
Despite widespread sentiment that he does not belong there, Will Foster remains imprisoned at the Lawton Correctional Facility in Oklahoma. Foster, a 40-year-old computer consultant and father of three, was arrested in 1995 for growing marijuana in his basement. (See "Pot of Trouble," May 1997.) Although he said the marijuana was for treating his rheumatoid arthritis, a jury convicted him in 1997 of various drug charges and sentenced him to 93 years.
Last August, saying Foster's sentence "shocks our conscience," an appeals court reduced the time to 20 years, making him eligible for parole. Days later, a parole board voted unanimously to release him. Three prison supervisors who said they rarely intervene on behalf of inmates urged Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating to sign the parole order. After Foster's supporters received discouraging replies, the prisoner wrote to the governor, saying "it is my understanding that you have no intention of approving my parole." He was right. In late January, Keating rejected the parole board's recommendation. Richard Kirby, the governor's spokesman, says the decision was due to "a combination of factors," including strong objections from the district attorney and the fact that Foster had served less than 10 percent of his sentence.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
jtrxtht