Some career criminals will be released from Oklahoma prisons if voters on November 3 approve State Question 805.

SQ805 is a constitutional amendment, brought by initiative petition, that would stop criminal records from being revealed in “non-violent” cases when it comes to sentencing.

A group called “Oklahomans for Sentencing Reform” is spending a small fortune on TV ads to promote passage of SQ805. They claim that Oklahoma has an “incarceration” crisis. Groups have been pushing legal reforms designed to get people out of Oklahoma prisons.

Even if SQ805 passes, they pledge to keep up the efforts to get more criminals out of prison.

In an interview on Tulsa Beacon Weekend on KCFO AM970, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler laid out the dangers of passing SQ805.

“I am completely opposed to State Question 805 for a lot of reasons,” said Kunzweiler. “Primarily, they characterize it as a bill that will only affect non-violent offenders. So then the question becomes, ‘What’s defined as a non-violent offender?’

“The public would be shocked to learn that somebody who is committing an act of domestic violence in the presence of a minor child – that person is considered non-violent.

“If you are strangling a pregnant woman in a domestic violence relationship, that person would be considered non-violent.

“If you are pointing a firearm at another individual, that person would be considered non-violent.

“So, when you watch these commercials and they profess that this is only going to affect those people who are in prison for non-violent offenses, you need to be asking the question, ‘Then what’s your definition of non-violent?’”

A person who commits any act of animal cruelty is considered non-violent, Kunzweiler said.

“A person who commits an arson in which a firefighter ends up being injured in trying to put out that fire, that person is going to be treated as a non-violent first-time offender,” Kunzweiler said. “What they are asking to do is somehow people who commit what they call non-violent crimes are being disproportionately sentenced because of their prior history.”

If it becomes law, SQ805 would handcuff judges and juries and teach criminals how to get away with felonies, he said.

“Here’s the argument I make,” Kunzweiler said. “I have three girls. What do you do when your kids violate the family rules? You discipline them. And if that child does the exact same thing that you just disciplined them for, the discipline goes up.

“Surprisingly, after two or three times of testing the parent, pretty soon the child figures out this isn’t working for me. What (SQ805 proponents) want to do is basically say to the judge and jury, you don’t get to consider any of their prior felony non-violent history.”

The judge and juries would never get to know if a felon with five or 10 previous convictions on sentencing.

“They have to be treated as those it’s a first-time offense,” Kunzweiler said. “You’d be looking at the minimum range of punishment. It shouldn’t be that way. I deal with people all the time who are habitual criminals. Habitual, serial offenders. If I had to treat them as though they were first-time offenders, guess what? You will learn that crime pays. And they are going to be pillaging our community.”

Oklahoma’s prison population is already down almost 18% thanks to the liberalization of drug possession laws and property crimes two years ago.

“Will (proponents) say, hey,  let’s look at the effects of what our earlier laws had and are we seeing a downward trend? No,” Kunzweiler said.

The recent changes have adversely affect drug treatment issues, Kunzweiler said.

“They want to act as though nothing is changing,” Kunzweiler said. “The other part of SQ805 is that it’s retroactive.”

For instance, proponents of SQ805 think there is a difference for a home burglar if the homeowner is there or the house is empty. A burglar doesn’t know if someone is home when they bust down a door.

“That is where you are supposed to be the safest,” Kunzweiler said. “They don’t know if your children are home or your grandparents are home or your spouse is home, they are just kicking in doors. It has all the potential for becoming exceedingly violent.”

If habitual criminal with a history of committing burglaries came before a jury and was found guilty, that’s when the prosecutor gets to tell “the rest of the story,” Kunzweiler said.

“The jury then gets to consider prior felonies to decide if they want to enhance the punishment or do they want to treat him in that zero to seven range.

“You might as well open up the doors to the prisons. All these guys are sitting down there just waiting for this to get passed. These are the type of people who are terrorizing our communities.”

Kunzweiler said there are many examples of criminals with drug problems who commit felonies and enter drug court instead of prison and yet they continue to commit crimes.

“What about the victims?” Kunzweiler asked. “If they find out a guy had five prior felonies on his record, they ask how did I become a victim? Shouldn’t this guy have been behind bars? It’s not right to always look through the lens of the person being accused of a crime or being found guilty of a crime. We need to be looking through the lens of victims.”

Many Oklahoma retailers have given up on reporting thefts of under $1,000 because they are misdemeanors rather than felonies because of changes in 2018. Shoplifters are arrested and then released with limited penalties and the career criminals know that very well.

“You’ve got to give law enforcement and prosecutors the tools to deal with these criminals,” Kunzweiler said.

Oklahoma ‘Non-violent’ Crimes

• Domestic assault and battery with a dangerous weapon
• Domestic assault and battery
• Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon
• Aggravated assault and battery
• Arson in the second, third or fourth degree;
• Escape from a prison or jail
• Endangering others while eluding the police
• Assault and battery on a police officer
• Assault and battery on a medical worker
• Manslaughter in the 2nd degree
• Maiming
• Robbery in the second degree
• Indecent exposure
• Child pornography
• Soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor
• Rape in the second degree;
• Convicted felon in possession of a firearm
• Burglary in the second or third degree
• Extortion by threats
• Grand larceny (over $1,000)
• Theft of an automobile, aircraft or farm equipment
• Placing a bomb or incendiary device with intent to injure another or destroy property
• Driving under the influence
• Selling drugs and trafficking drugs
• Leaving the scene of a collision resulting in injury or death
• Bringing contraband (guns, knives, drugs, etc.) into a prison or jail
• Failure to register as a sex offender
• Sex offender living within 2000 feet of a school, park or daycare.