New guidelines give
parole boards power
Just four months after being paroled last November,
convicttwl double murderer Russell Obremskj was arrest
ed on charges of sexually abusing a 4-yoar-old girl, the
niece of an acquaintance.
The incident sparked a blaze of public outcry that
reached its peak when Crimestrike, a division of the
National Rifle Association, ran full-page ads in several
prominent Oregon newspapers. The ads, featuring a
wild-eyed mug shot of Obremski and a graphic descrip
tion of his crimes, urged readers to call and complain
to the chairman of the parole board that authorized
Obromski's release. Hundreds of Oregonians followed
the ads' advice.
Such public anger was understandable, although it
seemed to moot nothing but frustration. The parole
board insisted that its hands had been tied when they lot
Obremski out; release dates for criminals sentenced
between 1977 and 1989 (or those sentenced earlier who
wish to bo included) are determined according to a
matrix. When Obremski s tentative parole date arrived
and he passed the required psychological evaluation, the
parole board was forced to lot him go.
Hut recent changes in the parole system may help pre
vent the release of other potentially dangerous crimi
nals. Perhaps the unfortunate circumstances of Obroms
ki's release and re arrest may have come to some good,
after all.
Richard Wayne Godwin is a convicted child killer
who kidnapped, raped and decapitated his 5-yonr old
victim — and then lit candles in her skull. He is tenta
tively scheduled for parole March 11. 1995.
The suggestion that such a criminal bo let out so soon
— loss than 20 years after he committed the crime — has
once again raised objections from many Oregonians. For
many, it's hard to imagine how the state could justify
releasing such a man — a man who, in addition to his
grisly killing, has also been convicted of sexual abusing
two other 5-year-olds
For many, the possibility of Godwin's release Invokes
the memory of tho Obremski case. But the hoard that
will review Godwin's application for parole will have
greater power to prevent his release than the one that
was powerless to stop Obremski's.
For one thing, the parole board now has the power to
request additional psychological tests for potential
parolees. This way, less importance will bo placed on a
single evaluation, such ns the one that favored Obrems
ki's release and effectively forced his parole board to
lot him go.
And the 1993 Legislature further lessened the signifi
cance of psychological exams by authorizing parole
boards to consider other factors in deciding whether to
release a criminal, including underlying information
about tho crime, public outcry, and the opinions of
lawyers or judges involved in the case. The psychologi
cal evaluation previously overrode all such considera
tions.
There are some potential dangers involved with these
changes; in particular, the clangor that public anger alone
could force a parole board to retain an inmate even if
that inmate is otherwise fit to be released.
But the potential gains outweigh such possible dis
advantages. at least at this early stage. No one wants to
see a paroled criminal commit another crime. If these
new guidelines can help stop that from happening, then
perhaps it can renew the public's faith in the criminal
justice system.
Oregon Daily
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COMMENTARY
Amazon rehabilitation best choice
By Sharon Singer Millman
ha following is a lorroction
of factual error < ontained
J. in Joe Harwood's opinion
printed Tuesday, August *i
The decision to demolish Ama
zon was made long before the
Kndex report was commissioned
In fad, it was ImauM of the slip
shod ami embarrassing report the
University commissioned to jus
tify their dm ision that a new
study whs undertaken Kndex
hngmeenng was charged with
evaluating the i ondition of Ama
zon, and estimating the costs
under dime scenarios In the Pinal
report, the rehabilitation scenario
actually came out slightly cheap
or than now construction. This
did not prevent University Vit o
President Dan Williams from tes
tifying to the enact opposite in
front of the C'.ity Council.
Furthermore, it was Endex, not
"the cooperative" that deter
mined the figure of S3 million to
repair Amazon and to keep it in
good condition for at least the
next 50 years. "Ciood condition"
means the rehabilitated buildings
would be in the same condition
as the now construction would
be. given the improved mainte
nance program Endex included
in both scenarios Cary Feuer
stoin, the chief engineer, even
wrote a letter to the University,
criticizing its interpretation of his
report He was not instructed to
include financing in his analysis
but if those numbers are includ
ed. rehabilitation to an equal lev
el of quality is Slfi million cheap
er than new c onstruction
While lead paint, asbestos,
earthquakes and fire are issues
that must lie taken seriously, they
do not, in particular, justify the
destruction of Amazon. Almost
none of the buildings on campus
were designed to meet earth
quake c onsiderations and there
is asbestos for sure and most like
ly load paint in many campus
buildings including West
moreland, where they chose
abatement over demolition.
Spacu is not adequate here to
explain the Historic: Designation.
but perhaps Mr. Harwood could
read the original application, the
findings of the local Historic
Review Hoard, the unanimous
decision of the City Council to
uphold the decision, the testi
mony given before the State His
toric Review Hoard and the forth
coming recommendation from
the Board that Amazon be placed
on the National Register.
As for self interest, many of tile
most active student tenants could
not possibly lie defending Ama
zon for selfish reasons because
they graduated before the first
phase of the demolition was
scheduled to begin Perhaps Mr
Harwood is unaware that imnos
sible rent is the most common
cause of dropouts from the lime
Community College Women in
Transition program. This pro
gram supports single mothers
trying to get off the streets and off
welfare by getting an education
Wo are proud to nave a number
of ex-homeless single moms liv
ing at Amazon who have made
the big leap to LCC and then to
the University. Perhaps Mr Har
wood is unaware that everyone
at Amazon qualifies for public
assistance Perhaps Mr Harwood
has not tried to support a fami
ly (food, clothing, shelter and
love for three dependents in addi
tion to himselfl while going to
school full time Perhaps he tan
nut imagine needing to find a
three bedroom apartment near
campus on a one-student budget
or taring for two small kids when
he is not in class and paying
someone else to do it while he is
That $10 or $20 a month makes
a big difference in the grocery
budget or the winter coats for the
kids It's true, in "the real world"
a landlord would have evicted
those who could not pay higher
rent and because of that. Ama
zon was built in the first place
which is why so many are fight
ing to save this haven, where rent
is low because the mortgage is
paid off and the savings have
Ireen passed on to the students.
The units at Amazon comprise
half of the very low income units
in Eugene. Amazon is in hotter
shape than many apartments
around town and even has some
materials that could never be
replaced today — straight grain
wood fl<x>rs, cedar siding and hig.
long, solid timber floor joists that
the contractors hugged for if we
happened to !*• getting rid of any.
A decent painting program would
prevent a lot of the dry rot.l
would also like to point out to
Mr. Harwood that Amazon Com
munity Housing is not "a student
co-op” it is a "non-profit corpo
ration." This may seem like a
minor point but perhaps it will
assuage some of his fears. The
Board is divided between tenants
and community members. It is
trie strength and reputation of our
community board members and
the tireless work of current and
previous tenants on the Hoard
that caused the University to
even road the Co-op
proposal,which it seems Mr. Har
wood has not done. If he had, he
might have noticed the propos
al includes a professional man
agement staff and a detailed reha
bilitation program, with all of the
work (and more) suggested by
Kudos as well as contractors' esti
mates. He might have seen that
Kugene Water and Electric Board
volunteered to do most of the
wuatherization for free because
of loans available to Amazon
Community Housing as a non
profit low income housing com
plex. He might have concluded
the University would be 1 letter off
spending its $lfi million bonding
authority by rehabilitating Ama
zon and building new student
housing elsewhere. Rehabilitat
ing Amazon is far and away the
liest thing for the students in both
the short and long term. It is no
accident that we have the strung
support of city councilors,
strangers on historic review
liourds, state legislators and a big
group of tired and determined
tenant activists Three quarters of
the struggle has been bringing
light to the truth. 1 do hope tin
future editorial editor of the
Emerald will check out his facts
Sharon Singer Millman is a
graduate student in architecture
at the University