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Measure 94 Voter's Pamphlet Arguments CRIME VICTIMS UNITED |
These arguments were placed in the 2000 Voter's Pamphlet by Crime Victims United.
Crime Victims United Asks You to Vote No on Measure 94
Julie Hedden - My Father's Life Was Squandered
Jennifer Alldredge - Victim of Kip Kinkel
Donna Mainord - Victim of Attempted Murder
Michael Nickolauson - Don't Reduce Sentence For My Son's Murderer
Debra Oyamada - How violent does a person have to be?
Susan Panek - Mother of Murder Victim Yolanda Panek
Carol Wyatt - Mother of rape victim
Marlene Wirtanen - Mother of manslaughter victim
The Judicial Discretion Deception
My Experience as a Juvenile Corrections Officer
Measure 94 lets violent youth offenders walk at age 21
Who Would Measure 94 Hurt Most?
Measure 11 Is Well Worth The Cost
CRIME VICTIMS UNITED ASKS YOU TO VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Measure 94 retroactively slashes sentences for violent crimes: robbery, assault, kidnapping, rape, manslaughter, attempted murder and murder.
If Measure 94 is passed, over 3000 of Oregon's most violent criminals will be resentenced under more lenient guidelines. The sentences of most will be reduced and the sentences of many will be reduced by as much as one-half to two-thirds.
An estimated 800 to 1300 criminals, including kidnappers, rapists, child molesters and killers, will be released within 90 days of the election.
Virtually all future violent criminals in Oregon will receive more lenient sentences. The minimum prison term for murder will be reduced from 25 years to 8 years; for forcible rape, from 8 years to 2 years and 4 months. In many cases, judges have no choice but to give the minimum sentence.
The cases of many violent youth offenders, even murderers and rapists, will be tried in juvenile court. If convicted they will be released at age 21.
Make no mistake, innocent people will pay dearly if Measure 94 is passed.
Measure 94 proponents have used extensive misrepresentations to advance their cause. They want you to believe that Measure 11, which Measure 94 repeals, affects petty offenders. Untrue. Measure 11 addresses sentences for the most serious crimes of violence and sexual abuse.
They want you to believe that youth are sent directly to adult prison and get no rehabilitation under Measure 11. Untrue. All convicted youth go to the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) where they receive education, counseling and treatment. Any youth who wants to emerge a better person can stay at OYA until age 25.
Many more blatant misrepresentations are documented at www.crimevictimsunited.org/measure11/misrepresentations.htm.
Please keep in mind when making your decision that the lives of innocent people depend on your vote.
In the following pages, you will read statements from a small sample of thousands of victims.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
How the Criminal Justice system squandered my father’s life.
June 25, 1996 was a day that changed not only my life, but also the lives of my family and an entire community. It was the day my father, an innocent, law-abiding citizen, was brutally stabbed 16 times. My father, Paul Rivenes, owned a small grocery store in Hubbard, Oregon. On that Tuesday afternoon, which I will never forget, three men decided they wanted beer money so they planned the robbery and murder of my father. They preyed on him because (in their words) they knew he was older and alone and would be an easy target.
Two of these men had extensive criminal records including assaults among many other criminal acts. The criminal that was the decoy and distracted my father so the other could butcher him had a conviction for Assault II with a knife.
Had Measure 11 been in effect when these men committed their prior crimes of violence my father might be alive today. These men would have been held accountable for their previous acts and been locked away, taken out of society so they could not assault or harm innocent, law-abiding citizens.
By voting for Measure 94, you would be making a statement that the lives of my father and other innocent, law-abiding citizens mean nothing. If Measure 94 is passed the prison term of at least one of my father’s killers could be cut in half. The 29 years he got for planning my father’s murder would be cut by 50%. That means he would be out on the street sooner, given a chance to kill again.
Because of these men my life will never be the same. But at least they are being held accountable for their crimes and cannot commit such a vicious act again.
Don't take the risk of squandering another human life.
PLEASE VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Julie Hedden
Daughter of murder victim Paul
Rivenes
Before you think about voting yes on 94, please read what I have to say.
On May 21, 1998, I was finishing my junior year at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. My boyfriend and I were in the school cafeteria. I stood up to hug him and wish him a happy birthday.
Suddenly, a bullet ripped through my boyfriend's chest and through my right hand, and then another bullet entered my lung. Those bullets - and 49 other rounds that day - were courtesy of my schoolmate, Kip Kinkel.
After 10 days in the hospital, I still have scars that don’t heal - on my hand, my body, and heart. Remember, I’m one of the "lucky" ones: I SURVIVED.
Measure 94 would require Kip Kinkel to be resentenced under Oregon’s OLD sentencing laws. That means KIP KINKEL would be RELEASED WHEN HE TURNS 21, if he were sentenced as a juvenile!!! And even if the prosecutor could convince the judge to sentence him as an adult - which is not guaranteed - Kip Kinkel would almost certainly be allowed early release.
I am terrified that one day I will have to go through Kip Kinkel’s wrath again. If Kip Kinkel is resentenced, I will be living in fear every day, along with my family and fellow victims, that if he is released, he will hunt us all down.
I just wonder if the supporters of Measure 94 have really thought this through. Do they really want Kip Kinkel to get out of prison early? Do they really want crime victims like me - and family members of the deceased - to have to live in fear of his release?
GIVING KIP KINKEL A CHANCE TO GET OUT AT AGE 21 IS TOO BIG A RISK TO TAKE.
That’s why I’m asking YOU to Vote NO on Measure 94.
Jennifer Alldredge
Springfield, Oregon
On August 25, 1997, I was stabbed 13 times with a Butterfly knife and with Barber Scissors by my own son.
He was almost 16, at 6' 1" and 220 lbs. The questions most people ask me are: Was he on drugs? Was he in prior troubles? Any troubles in the family? The answers are "No". He was never molested, abused, neglected or any of the other things people try to rationalize as the cause of violent behavior. Good kids come from bad families. Bad kids come from good families.
He's serving 15 years for Two Counts of Attempted Murder, Assault 1, and Assault 2 at McLaren Youth Facility and may stay there until he is 25.
From the attack I've been left partially disabled. My mother died not long after my attack and my father suffered a heart attack. The 6 year old son of a family friend was placed into counseling because he was having nightmares that my son would come and kill him and his baby sister.
People who were once close have drifted away because they are afraid. They're afraid my son will turn on them next. I feel their worries are valid. I wasn't the only person he was going to kill. He was going to kill everyone in the family AND in his girlfriend's family.
If Measure 11 is repealed, I will have to go through the trauma of a new trial and look, once more, at the bloody weapons he was using to kill me. If sentenced in juvenile court, he may be released immediately.
I can never trust him again. I'm terrified for the rest of my family, but more so for YOUR families. If you met him, you would never know he's capable of killing. He's intelligent, witty, profound, trustable, . . . and very Deadly. I pray he doesn't end up in your neighborhood.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Donna Mainord, C.H.T.
Victim Assistance Volunteer
On May 21, 1998, KIP KINKEL murdered my son, Mikael. My son was sitting at a cafeteria table with friends, enjoying his junior year in high school. Kip Kinkel walked in with hundreds of rounds of ammunition; after already shooting my son twice, he put the gun to his head and shot him a third time!
My son died immediately.
Let me tell you about my son. He had a terrific imagination, and loved to entertain his friends with pranks and his technological abilities. He was engaged to be married to his girlfriend - together, they planned to join the Oregon National Guard. He was full of promise, energy, and ability.
Now, let me tell you about his murderer. The first three words in Kinkel’s black journal were "Hate drives me." He said he "hated every person on earth." After killing his own father, he shot his own mother seven times, killing her. He methodically cleaned up the mess, set bombs around his house, killed my son, then another student, and wounded dozens more.
If Measure 94 passes, Kip Kinkel - and thousands of other violent criminals - will have to be resentenced under Oregon’s old, more lenient sentencing laws!
That means my son’s murderer would be released at age 21 - in less than four years - if he were sentenced as a juvenile! Even if the prosecutor could convince the judge to sentence him as an adult, Kinkel could serve as little as ten years.
Voting yes on 94 gives my son’s murderer the chance to fulfill what he wrote in his journal: "I am evil. I want to kill and give pain without cost."
If you think Kip Kinkel should serve his full sentence, please join me in VOTING NO ON 94, an ill-considered, poorly-thought out measure.
Michael A. Nickolauson
HOW VIOLENT DOES A PERSON HAVE TO BE ?
On November 18, 1994 a complete stranger stabbed my husband, Andrew McDonald, to death. This stranger's attack was unprovoked. His rampage resulted in two homicides that night - he also slit the throat of his 'best friend.'
I too was assaulted with his knife as was another person who was trying to defuse this man's fury. In all, he stabbed us more than 40 times.
This has devastated me, Andy's mother, his brother, and other family and friends.
Horrifying facts about the perpetrator's past emerged during the penalty phase of the trial.
His rap sheet was filled with violent behavior. He had stabbed another 'friend' a few years before for drinking the last beer in the cooler. The victim's friends had to hold his intestines intact because they were 'falling out' as they rushed him to the hospital. The perpetrator was convicted for Assault II, given PROBATION, which he violated 3 times and because of that, was resentenced in 1991 to 5 years in prison.
HE WAS BACK ON THE STREETS IN '93!
Other testimony revealed that he had chased his father-in-law down a hospital ward with a butcher knife, kicked his pregnant wife in the abdomen, and knifed strangers on walks in the Rose City neighborhood in Portland. He hit corrections officers, threatened lives, and terrorized people.
How violent does a person have to be before they are locked up to secure our safety?
MUST WE WAIT UNTIL THEY COMMIT A MURDER?
By then it's too late.
Had Measure 11 been in effect, with its mandatory minimum sentences, my husband would be alive today. Measure 11 keeps VIOLENT CRIMINALS OFF THE STREETS!
If Measure 94 passes, it will cost lives. Maybe yours or someone's you love.
I URGE YOU TO VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94!
From a person who knows all too well.
Debra Oyamada
Crime Victims United
On July 14, 1995 my twenty one year old daughter, my only child, was murdered by her former partner in the presence of their two year old son. My daughter's body has yet to be recovered. I cannot explain the trauma and grief of losing a child by homicide. The pain is ever present.
The justice system cannot compensate for the loss of a child, nor a child's loss of his mother. But by fair, just, and equitable sentencing it lends value to the victim's life and some peace to the surviving family.
My daughter's son deserves to be protected from this criminal. This child is serving a TRUE LIFE SENTENCE, forever deprived of his mother, and stigmatized for life that his father murdered his mother, a murder that he witnessed.
Measure 11 ensures that this criminal will serve a minimum of twenty five years of his life sentence before being eligible for release. If Measure 11 is repealed this offender could receive as little as a ten year sentence. In considering his five years served and "good time", this criminal could be released when our little boy is as young as nine or ten years old.
Be aware that by eliminating Measure 11 in totality, ALL serious offenders sentenced under Measure 11 will be RESENTENCED, including MURDERERS, RAPISTS AND CHILD ABUSERS. If Measure 11 is repealed many of these criminals will be released immediately. As voters, we will NOT be able to go back and correct that wrong. It will be a done deal!
I believe that voters want to stay strong in sending their message that Oregonians demand CONSEQUENCE to people who CHOOSE to commit heinous acts.
I believe that Oregon voters will not repeal Measure 11.
Please Vote No On Measure 94!
Susan Panek
IF MEASURE 11 IS REPEALED, MY DAUGHTER'S RAPIST WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY BE RELEASED WITHIN NINETY DAYS OF THE ELECTION.
In July 1995, my nine year old daughter was drugged with three powerful narcotics, raped, and left unconscious. The 43 year old rapist was arrested, convicted, and sentenced under Measure 11 to nine years in prison. Before Measure 11, the typical sentence for this rapist would have been just three years.
In the past, the rapist made threats against me and my children. I moved them to another town while waiting for the trial. They were taken out of school in the middle of the year, and it was very difficult for them.
My daughter is now fourteen years old and is looking forward to starting high school. She wants nothing more than to enjoy these years as a carefree teenager. She hopes to have four more years before the rapist is released in the year 2004. She will then be eighteen years old and will have graduated from high school. She deserves to enjoy these years free from fear.
If Measure 11 is repealed, my daughter's rapist will almost certainly be released within ninety days of the election and we may have to relocate again.
Please vote no on Measure 94 so my daughter and other child victims of violent crime may have a few more years to grow up in peace and safety. It takes more than a few years for victims of violent crime to recover from the trauma and begin to rebuild their lives. Measure 11 helps to provide that needed time.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94!
Carol Wyatt
Crime Victims United
MY DREAMS ENDED ON MY DAUGHTER’S 20TH BIRTHDAY.
Now, the nightmare is back with Measure 94, which would permit the EARLY RELEASE of the criminal who killed my daughter.
On August 11, 1996, my daughter Natasha was on her way to her 20th birthday party with two friends. A woman who was a convicted felon and high on drugs ran a red light and drove her truck directly into Natasha’s side of the car.
My daughter inhaled her own vomit because the rescuers had difficulty removing her from the wreckage. After fourteen days, Natasha died of fatal injuries to her brain, lungs and abdomen.
My daughter was innocent and had her whole life to live. But her life was cut short by a 37 year old ex-con drug addict who used drugs and got behind the wheel of a car, drove at high speeds, committed hit and run, lied to the police, endangered and abandoned her own sons, jumped bail, and was a fugitive from the FBI for more than a year.
In 1998, a jury took less than two hours to convict her unanimously on eight charges, including Manslaughter I.
I am extremely grateful for Oregon’s existing sentencing laws under Ballot Measure 11. Under our existing sentencing laws, the criminal who killed my daughter will serve every day of her 10 year sentence for Manslaughter. But if Ballot Measure 94 passes, the killer will go back before the court, likely to be re-sentenced to just 60-70% of her original Manslaughter sentence!
Who wants Measure 94 to pass? Defense attorneys and family members of convicted criminals! That’s because Measure 94 would allow most criminals convicted under Ballot Measure 11 to be resentenced to SHORTER PRISON TERMS.
A mother should be able to send her child out on her birthday and have her come home. But my daughter will never come back.
Please vote NO on Measure 94.
Marlene Wirtanen
In the eight years since my 12-year-old daughter Lisa's murder, I have come across hundreds of cases of victims denied justice, as our family was. Her killer served just 28 months under the very sentencing guidelines that Measure 94 seeks to restore. Her mother, brother, and our families were sentenced to life without Lisa and without the joys she would have brought us - birthdays, graduations, wedding, grandchildren and love.
The approval of Measure 94 would result in hundreds if not thousands of additional miscarriages of justice. I want to tell you about one of them.
Brian Lawler had been involved in gang activity, had been arrested, and was well known to police prior to the crime, but had never been convicted.
On May 5, 1995, Brian Lawler, with no provocation whatsoever, attacked Dave Clarke with a baseball bat. He hit Clarke three times. Clarke, Mount Hood Community College student body treasurer and a straight-A student, suffered permanent brain and vision damage. The attack ended his college career and his plans for the rest of his life. He suffers from ongoing seizures.
The day before sentencing, Brian Lawler and his brother committed a burglary for which he was convicted of Aggravated Theft .
Lawler pled guilty to Assault I and Assault III. He received a 90 month sentence for Assault I. The judge sentenced him to 14 additional months for the Assault III and 12 additional for the Aggravated Theft. Only the Assault I is a Measure 11 crime.
If Measure 94 passes, Brian Lawler will be resentenced. As a "first-time offender", his 7-1/2 year sentence will be cut in half and he will be released from McLaren Youth Facility. Meanwhile, Dave Clarke still has brain and vision damage and seizures, and will for the rest of his life.
Brian Lawler's mother, Cathi Lawler, is chief petitioner on Measure 94.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Steve Doell, President
Crime Victims United
www.crimevictimsunited.org
THE MEASURE 94 "JUDICIAL DISCRETION" DECEPTION
Measure 94 proponents want you to believe that Measure 94 allows a judge to choose a fitting sentence from a wide range of sentences. This is a deception.
In a 7/29/2000 letter to The Oregonian, Measure 94 chief petitioner Lorraine Heller wrote:
"For murder the guideline range was 10 years to 22 years and 5 months while under Measure 11 the sentence is 25 years . . . The important difference is that under the guidelines, judges were free to sentence within a specified range."
Does this make you think that a judge can choose a sentence from 10 years to 22 years? If so, you were deceived. For a convicted murderer who is a "first-time offender", in the vast majority of cases, the range of sentences available to the judge starts at 10 years and ends at 10 years and one month!
To receive the 22 year sentence, the murderer has to have committed three prior violent crimes. And even then he is eligible for a "good-time" reduction.
Here is the effect of Measure 94 on minimum prison terms for some Measure 11 crimes.
• Forcible rape would drop from 8 years, 4 months to 2 years, 5 months.
• Manslaughter II would drop from 6 years, 3 months to PROBATION.
• Murder would drop from 25 years to 8 years!
For more, see www.crimevictimsunited.org/measure11/sentencingcomparison.htm.
Why are "minimum prison terms" important? Because in most cases, judges are forced to give the minimum sentence to "first-time offenders", even first-time kidnappers, first-time rapists and first-time murderers. And even if the "first-time offender" has had numerous run-ins with the law but was never convicted of a serious crime.
The proponents of Measure 94 are betting that they can fool you into believing that a judge can choose from a wide range of sentences.
DON'T BE DECEIVED.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Joanne Vaughn
Crime Victims United
www.crimevictimsunited.org
As a juvenile corrections worker, I'd like to offer my perspective on Measure 11 and Measure 94.
Since Measure 11 passed in 1994, I've witnessed firsthand the positive changes in the mindset of incarcerated youth. Before, they had the notion of invincibility, knowing the law allowed them years of criminal activity without serious consequence. Too often the same youths rolled in and out of our institutions several times, finally ending up in prison or dead on the streets.
Since Measure 11, we have youths long enough, early in their criminal careers that we can make some headway with treatment and expose them to lifestyle choices which don't involve physical or sexual violence. Often we offer the first stable environment that they've ever known. The extra time Measure 11 has afforded us gives these youth a chance to change their mindset and accept our efforts at turning their lives around.
One myth claims that we are locking up 'first time offenders'. The fact that many offenders have never been convicted before does not mean that they have spent their lives singing in the church choir. Working at Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility, I see in every file arrest after arrest and suspended sentence after suspended sentence.
What Measure 94 calls 'first time offenders' actually means 'first time in a locked facility'. There's a huge difference. While these criminals and their enablers are crying for a 'second chance', they've already had multiple chances.
In my daily contact with incarcerated youth, I hear honest reluctance to re-offend, and warnings to their younger siblings about Measure 11. Where in the past they recruited at-risk youth into criminal activities, they now dissuade them.
Repealing Measure 11 would be counterproductive for the very youth the supporters of Measure 94 claim to want to help. Their efforts would be better spent working towards prevention and post-sentence opportunities.
VOTE NO ON 94.
Thank you
Robert Blacksmith
MEASURE 94 LETS VIOLENT YOUTH OFFENDERS WALK AT AGE 21
Measure 94 would overturn the convictions of Kip Kinkel and 350 other criminals who were under 18 when they committed their crimes. Measure 94 requires that these criminals be returned to juvenile court and retried under procedures that existed prior to the passage of Measure 11. Unless "waived" by the judge to adult court, these dangerous criminals would be released on their 21st birthday.
The murder of Scott Bell and the brutal beating of Tim Hawley attest to the difficulty, prior to Measure 11, of convincing juvenile court judges to allow even the most dangerous youth to be tried in adult court.
Scott Bell was lured to a remote location near Mt. Hood, shot in the head execution-style and buried in a shallow grave. Scott’s killer admitted committing the murder to acquire Scott’s car. After a Clackamas County judge refused to waive him to adult court, the killer bragged that he "got way with murder".
The murderer walked out of McLaren Youth Facility at age 21.
Tim Hawley was brutally beaten by three youths outside the Lloyd Center as he and his fiancée were leaving a movie theater. Hawley was tackled, beaten and kicked in the head until unconscious, then thrown down a flight of stairs. In order to save his life, doctors had to remove the front portion of Hawley’s brain.
Eight years later, Tim Hawley is still severely disabled.
The two primary participants both had substantial juvenile court records. One was on probation for raping a 4 year-old. The other perpetrator had been previously referred to juvenile authorities for participating in a similar gang beating. Nonetheless, the juvenile court judge again refused to waive either youth to adult court for trial.
These criminals were released from custody before age 21.
Don't turn back the clock to the failed policies of the past.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94.
Steve Doell
Crime Victims United
www.crimevictimsunited.org
MEASURE 94 WOULD RETURN TO A BROKEN SYSTEM
In 1989 Oregon’s legislature adopted "sentencing guidelines". The sentences established were not what the legislature thought just, but rather were based on limited prison space. Between 1958 and 1988, the number of prison beds actually decreased while the state's population tripled.
Almost everyone who worked on sentencing guidelines knew the sentences were low, especially for violent offenses. We simply lacked adequate space to house our most violent offenders for an appropriate time. The legislature was told that, once the public understood what kind of sentences were actually imposed, they might change the law. In 1995 they did when 66% of voters approved Measure 11.
Sentencing guidelines restricted the maximum sentence a judge could give a violent offender. With the exception of murder, upon certain findings, judges could and did give probation (no prison time) for violent felony offenses, including forcible rape, armed robbery, and brutal assaults. It's no wonder that criminal defense attorneys and convicted criminals like sentencing guidelines.
Opponents of Measure 11 say it took discretion away from the courts. That is very misleading. Measure 11 did take away a court’s ability to impose probation and lesser sentences for violent crimes. It did not take away a court’s discretion to impose greater sentences in some circumstances or concurrent sentences for multiple offenses. And in 1997, the Oregon Legislature returned discretion to judges by passing Senate Bill 1049.
If Measure 11 is repealed the violent crime rate in Oregon will increase significantly. The opponents of Measure 11 will never acknowledge what they have done. Unfortunately, thousands of victims will find out the hard way. Some will die; many will have physical and mental scars that will last their entire lives. Don't let this happen.
Let’s not dismantle a system that is working and replace it with sentencing guidelines that were broken the day they became law.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94.
Steve Doell
Crime Victims United
www.crimevictimsunited.org
WHO WOULD MEASURE 94 HURT MOST?
If Measure 94 passes, most of Oregon's 3000 worst criminals will be released early. 800 to 1300 will be released within 90 days of the election. Some of them will commit new violent crimes. Who will the new victims be?
Violent criminals target those most vulnerable. The poor, children, women, and minorities will pay disproportionately for Measure 94.
A large percentage of the criminals to be released by Measure 94 are child molesters. Children will pay disproportionately for Measure 94.
Measure 94 requires resentencing 306 rapists. Women will pay disproportionately for Measure 94.
Minorities are victims of violent crime far beyond their numbers. FBI statistics show that an African-American is SIX TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE MURDERED than a Caucasian. Minorities will pay disproportionately for Measure 94.
Measure 94 proponents say our criminal justice system is racist. What is their excuse for slashing the sentences of the 2357 violent criminals who are Caucasian? Some of these criminals committed racially-motivated crimes!
Victims of all races suffer the same from violent crime. When we are assaulted or raped, we hurt. When we are murdered, we die. And when violent criminals do these horrible things, we deserve justice.
What effect will released violent criminals have on minority communities? What kind of influence will they be on at-risk youth? One unspeakable tragedy tells the story.
Chad Render was an African-American student-athlete at Portland State University. He maintained a 3.26 GPA despite working 32 hours per week in a nursing home. He aspired to be an architect.
On July 27, 1997, a violent adult criminal recruited a 15-year-old to commit a robbery. During the robbery, he murdered Chad Render.
If Measure 94 passes, the ringleader's sentence will be reduced and he will come back into the community. The community has lost Chad Render forever.
Violent crime is a heavy burden on minority communities. Measure 94 will make it worse.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Willie Brown
Justice
I believe that fitting punishment is an essential component of justice.
Measure 94 changes the minimum prison term for forcible rape from 8 years and four months to 2 years and four months. It changes the minimum prison term for murder from 25 years to 8 years. In many cases, judges have no choice but to give the minimum term.
Which prison term would you find just if your daughter were raped or your brother murdered?
Protection of Innocent People
Measure 94 reduces minimum prison terms for robbery, assault, kidnapping, rape and other sex crimes, manslaughter, attempted murder and murder by one-half to two-thirds.
Over 3000 criminals convicted of these crimes, including 480 sentenced for assault, 147 for kidnapping, 314 for rape, 187 for manslaughter, 145 for attempted murder, and 107 for murder will be resentenced (numbers as of 8/2000). Most will have their sentences reduced and 800 to 1300 will be released within 90 days of the election.
With hundreds of additional violent criminals on the streets immediately and thousands eventually, there will be many additional innocent victims.
Deterrence
Opponents of Measure 11 say that long sentences do not deter crime.
They may not deter everyone, but I believe that they deter some people. Each crime deterred is at least one fewer victim of robbery, assault, kidnapping, rape, manslaughter, attempted murder or murder.
The deterrent effect will continue to increase as people become more aware that violent crime is not tolerated in Oregon, but only if we stand firm.
Measure 94 Is Extreme
The sponsors of Measure 94 claim that they are concerned with cases involving "fistfights and shoplifting" (neither of which are Measure 11 offenses).
Then why does their measure slash sentences for rapists and murderers?
Even if you share some of their concerns, slashing sentences for rapists and murderers is a horrible idea!
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Gordon McDonald
Crime Victims United
www.crimevictimsunited.org
MEASURE 11 IS WELL WORTH THE COST
The Measure 94 financial impact statement shows the cost of Measure 11 for the 2001-2002 budget year to be about $48 million.
This is less than one percent of the 5 billion dollar state annual budget.
Each Oregonian will pay about $15 in 2001-2002 for fitting sentences for violent criminals.
In other terms, it costs you less than one cent per year to keep one robber, one kidnapper, one rapist, or one killer in prison.
Is preventing additional violent crimes and having a criminal justice system that criminals take seriously worth $15 per year to you?
This analysis does not take into account the Measure 11 savings from not having to re-arrest those who re-offend, investigate their new crimes, pay their new lawyers, pay for their new trials. It also does not take into account public and private medical and insurance savings gained from Measure 11.
How does Measure 11 spending impact education?
Education costs each Oregonian about $890 per year compared to $15 for Measure 11. The impact of Measure 11 on education is that it educates people not to assault, rob, kidnap, rape or kill other people.
In 1994, the voters of Oregon were told that Measure 11 would cost $92 million per year for prison construction and $101 million per year for operating costs, a total of $193 million. 66% of Oregon voters approved these expenses. The actual cost has been far less and the violent crime rate has dropped significantly. The taxpayers of Oregon are getting their money's worth from Measure 11.
$48 million a year is a lot of money, but it is money well spent when you consider the number of people not robbed, the number of children not abused, the number of women not raped, the number of people not killed because the citizens of the State of Oregon no longer tolerate violent crime.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
MEASURE 11 OPPONENTS PLAY LOOSE WITH THE FACTS
Measure 94 sponsor Lorraine Heller: "Oregon has Measure 11, the mandatory minimum sentencing law that hands out prison terms for 23 crimes deemed to be violent but that include fistfights and shoplifting." (Oregonian, 1/15/1999)
Truth: Measure 11 does not cover fistfights unless they are really assaults in which the victim suffers significant injury and the attacker has a prior conviction. Measure 11 does not cover shoplifting or theft under any circumstances. Measure 11 does cover robbery, assault, kidnapping, rape and other sex crimes, manslaughter, attempted murder and murder.
Measure 94 sponsor Jo Ann Bowman: "No one who has committed murder, rape, child molestation, or any vicious crime is going to get out because Measure 11 has been repealed." (Channel 2 News, 4/1/2000)
Truth: All 3000+ Measure 11 offenders will be resentenced under a system that provides for much shorter sentences. Most, including rapists and murders, will have their sentences significantly reduced. An estimated 800 to 1300 will be released within 90 days of the election.
From the web site of Measure 94 sponsor Cathi Lawler: "First time offenders, youth included, are incarcerated with hardened, repeat offenders. They share the same cells."
Truth: All youth offenders are sent to youth facilities run by the Oregon Youth Authority where they can stay until age 25. A small number (7 as of 8/1/2000) are in adult prison because they assaulted other youth or staff or refused treatment. Even those sent to adult prison are segregated from "hardened repeat offenders".
Measure 11 opponent Emily Simon: "It doesn't give people treatment options for example for juvenile sex offenders . . . You get treated like an adult and you go to prison." (KPAM radio, 5/11/2000)
Truth: Treatment provided by the Oregon Youth Authority includes drug and alcohol rehabilitation, violent offender treatment, psychological services, anger management and education.
For more, see www.crimevictimsunited.org/measure11/misrepresentations.htm.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Howard Rodstein
Crime Victims United
Fiction: "The percentage of first-time offenders [is] 60%" (A February 2 letter to The Oregonian from Measure 94 sponsor Cathi Lawler)
Fact: The 60% figure comes from the Department of Corrections. The DOC has stated that their records do not include juvenile crimes, do not include out-of-state crimes, do not include out-of-country crimes and do not include some serious misdemeanors (e.g., domestic violence and drunk driving).
In a random sample done by the Multnomah County District Attorney's office, 84% of the Measure 11 criminals had a prior criminal record. Among the 16% of "first-time offenders" were two who had long histories of child molestation. For the remainder, it was first convictions for robbery, rape, child molestation and manslaughter. (For details see www.crimevictimsunited.org/measure11/measure11study.htm)
Fiction: "For murder the guideline range was 10 years to 22 years and 5 months while under Measure 11 the sentence is 25 years . . . The important difference is that under the guidelines, judges were free to sentence within a specified range." (A July 29 letter from Measure 94 sponsor to The Oregonian)
Fact: For a convicted murderer who is a "first-time offender", in the vast majority of cases, the sentence range available to the judge starts at 10 years and ends at 10 years and one month!
Fiction: "Mandatory minimum sentencing has quadrupled the prison population in recent years." (A July 28 letter printed in the Eugene Register Guard.)
Fact: According to statistics from the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, the prison population was 7290 in April, 1995, when Measure 11 went into effect. The estimate for July 1, 2000, was 9861. That is a growth of 35%, hardly a quadrupling. As of April of this year, just half the total growth going forward is attributed to Measure 11. The rate of growth is slowing.
The proponents of Measure 94 want to sell you their fiction. Find the facts at www.crimevictimsunited.org/measure11/misrepresentations.htm.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94
Eugene Register-Guard, July 27, 2000
A letter from an Oregon prison inmate appeared. He wrote:
Eugene Register-Guard, August 1
Eugene resident Thomas F. Becker replied:
Eugene Register-Guard, August 16
The parents of the inmate replied indignantly:
Reality check: Stealing a bike is not a Measure 11 crime, not even close. Self-defense is never a crime.
You don't have to 'imagine' the inmate's situation. Here are the facts.
The inmate, age 21, was convicted of Sex Abuse I for molesting a 5-year-old girl. He told police the molestation took place over a one year period.
If Measure 94 passes, his 6-year, 3 month prison term will be slashed to no more than 15 months and he will be released in 2001.
This criminal inmate, like many other violent criminals and sex offenders, is attempting to create a fictitious bicycle in your imagination. Once they create it, they'll ride it right out of prison.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 94