The Indianapolis Star. May 7, 2012.
Early prison release raises red flag
Chris Wheat was a swim coach in Lawrence when he had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old member of teams he helped lead. Wheat was arrested, pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor and child solicitation, and in September 2010 was sentenced to eight years in prison and two years in community corrections.
Now, less than two years later, Wheat is out of prison. What happened?
He was the beneficiary of a state law that enables inmates to cut time off their sentences by earning college degrees. The basis for the law, enacted in 1993, is reasonable. Offenders who gain an education while behind bars are more likely to find jobs and less likely to commit additional crimes once they're released.
But Wheat, apparently like many other inmates, took advantage of a loophole in the law that allows offenders to apply college credits they completed before they were incarcerated not only toward their degrees but also toward early release. Wheat was able to use credits applied to a degree he earned in 1995 toward a new degree from Oakland City University, and that second diploma in turn led to a sharp reduction in his sentence.
Wheat's early release prompted Marion County Superior Court Judge Carol Orbison, who originally sent the former coach off to prison, to raise objections with the state Department of Corrections. Orbison argues -- and rightly so -- that giving Wheat and others a "get-out-of- prison-early" card based on prior college work violates the spirit of the law.
The victim's family also is critical of how the early-release law was applied in Wheat's case. According to the DOC, Wheat was released from prison last Thursday, about 19 months after he was sentenced.
The General Assembly should amend the law, and close the loophole, during next year's session. In the interim, DOC needs to study whether it can on its own refuse to reduce sentences based on old coursework.
Allowing inmates to better themselves, and to earn incentives in return, makes sense in many cases. But this situation qualifies as neither good public policy nor good sense.
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Tribune-Star. May 3, 2012.
Curbing corruption a worthwhile crusade
If you are cynical about government, down to its most local levels, you may think it is overrun — or even controlled — by corruption.
A more generous view is that, even amidst partisan politics and personal agendas, most who hold office are anything but corrupt. Our experience, over many years and in many Indiana counties, is that honesty prevails and that the majority of government officials work toward the public good.
But there's probably more government corruption than any of us would like to think.
So, it comes as a welcome development that U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett — whose area is the southern two-thirds of Indiana — has initiated a Public Corruption Working Group, whose members include federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and even some administrative departments of government such as the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Overall, interagency sharing of information seems to be on the rise, a positive development that we are seeing more and more. Such sharing is fueled by the belief that results — no matter who primarily produced them — are more important than protecting turf and taking credit.
The working group's goal is to investigate, prosecute and convict public officials who have violated the law in such ways as bribery, extortion, graft (defined by one source as "unscrupulous use of a politician's authority for personal gain"), embezzlement, illegal drug activity, money laundering and human trafficking.
Hogsett — whose high visibility and assertive prosecutions have characterized his 18 months in the U.S. Attorney's position — vows: "If you violate the public trust, we'll find you."
That may at first sound like bluster, except that Hogsett's record in pursuing lawbreakers is impressive. He has been laudably aggressive in prosecuting on federal charges those who aided the shooter who callously took the life last summer of Terre Haute Police office Brent Long. Hogsett also has been stalwart in prosecuting local drug cases and other crimes. So the record supports Hogsett's promise of action.
The public's cooperation is imperative in ferreting out public corruption, which stays alive because of secrecy and deception among those power-wielding, corner-cutting, influence-peddling corruption merchants who seek to deprive the public of what the U.S. Supreme Court termed the "right of honest services." To report suspected abuse, call a special hotline at (317) 229-2443.
Hogsett's working group seems to be a move in the right direction to curb those abuses and make government more honest in its service to the public.
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Orbison argues -- and rightly so -- that giving Wheat and others a "get-out-of- prison-early" card based on prior college work violates the spirit of the law.
South Bend Tribune. May 6, 2012.
It's a step in the right direction
Last week brought a bit of encouraging news from the state Department of Child Services.
On Wednesday, DCS announced that it was restoring nearly $10 million in rate increases to groups that provide in-home services to families.
This "reinvestment," as the DCS characterizes it, will be welcomed by child welfare advocates who have expressed concerns about the drastic cuts the DCS has been making in the rates it pays providers. Their concerns -- outlined in a recent Tribune series on the workings of the DCS -- is that the emphasis on saving money ultimately hurts children. Last year, the DCS turned back more than $100 million in surplus to the state.
Locally, the reimbursement cuts led the Children's Campus to close five of its 12 treatment units and The Family and Children's Center to send off 28 of its troubled youths.
As it was accurately noted by Bruce Greenberg, CEO of the FCC, $10 million represents a fraction of the $100 million-plus DCS returned to the state. But this move is a positive step, and one that seems to indicate that the agency has heard some of the concerns and is willing to respond to them. We hope it's just the first step in the right direction.
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The Star Press, Muncie. May 4, 2012.
Alcohol amnesty law just might save lives
Indiana now has a "lifeline" law on the books. On Friday, Gov. Mitch Daniels conducted a ceremonial signing for the law, which shields people from arrest on public intoxication or underage drinking charges if they get help for someone facing an alcohol-related emergency.
It's a common-sense law, Daniels said, as he signed the bill with some college students who pushed for the measure. It takes effect July 1.
This law has the potential to save the lives of young people, especially college students who all-too-often take drinking to an extreme.
Twenty-one underage drinkers have died in Indiana since 2004 because of alcohol poisoning.
An Indiana University student, Jarrod Polston of Greenwood, died on the Ball State campus in September 2010. The freshman is reported to have consumed alcohol and methadone while partying with friends.
The goal is to make college students and others more likely to report alcohol poisoning, without fear of being punished themselves.
Ball State's Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities encourages students to call for help, "even at the risk of disciplinary action for one's own conduct." There is a "Good Neighbor" exception that provides a chance to waive disciplinary action in order to get help for another person. It does not apply to any possible criminal charges.
Indiana's Lifeline Law provides immunity to those who request medical help for the crimes of public intoxication, minor possession, minor consumption and minor transportation of alcohol.
But to receive the immunity, a person must cooperate fully with law enforcement, provide his or her full name and remain on the scene until police or emergency help arrives.
This bill sends a vital message that getting someone help is more important than being prosecuted for relatively minor alcohol offenses.
When a night of partying suddenly goes wrong, the natural tendency is toward self-preservation. Run from trouble and call for help later, or just hope for the best.
This law should help change that kind of thinking.
There's no way to determine whether it would have saved Polston's life two years ago at BSU, but with college graduations taking place this month, it's logical to believe there might have been a few more graduates in the class of 2012 had this law been on the books earlier.
Thankfully, it's on the books now.