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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2013)
opinion june6 2013 Voices From the Crowd: Parole Board Decision Makes No Sense By Randy Sanders On June 7th, the Oregon Parole board will allow inmate #7430532, Sid- ney Dean Porter a convicted cop-kill- er, to walk a free man. He served just 20-years of a life sentence after beat- ing to his death Officer Frank Ward -- a John Day Police officer -- with a piece of firewood, after the officer respond- ed to a call that Porter was beating his wife. My initial reaction was: why would a person with a history of docu- mented violent attacks on many people in local taverns, who is beating his wife and goes on to beat to death a police of- ficer, even allowed to be a candidate for parole in the first place? Just twenty years served for violently busting open the head of a policeman with a hunk of firewood, even after the officer’s body fell limp against the wood stove. Officer Frank Ward was doing the honorable and dangerous job of responding to a call, aiding a woman in extreme distress and the murderer gets just 20 years. Really? Not much time when you consider how long that is; 20 years ago NAFTA was signed, Michael Jackson was the “King of Pop” and the United States Navy al- lowed women to serve on combat ships. 20 years... really? Given that the Board of Pa- role’s website describes that it’s deci- sions are based on “...applicable laws, victims’ interests, public safety and the recognized principles of offender be- havioral change,” it seems rather dubi- ous that they would arrive at their deci- sion based on evaluating psychologist’s opinion of Porter: “Mr. Porter seems to present the classic example of a per- son who ought not to be released on parole.” But here was the board’s final statement: “Based on the information the board is considering, including the doctor’s report and diagnosis, the board has concluded you do have an emotion- al disturbance, but it is not so severe as to constitute a danger to the health and safety of the community,” Ummm, wouldn’t the “doctor’s report” fall un- der the “victim’s interests” and “public safety” part of your description? So when the Oregon Depart- ment of Justice sent a worthy repre- sentative to the hearing to represent you, me and the rest of Oregon’s tax-paying citizens, how exactly did they defend our public safety? Well, Kristin Winges-Yanez, Amber Kaatz and Candice Wheeler -- the three member parole board -- never both- ered to invite them. Yes, that’s right, The Oregon Board of Parole never bothered to announce to the Oregon Department of Justice there was to be a hearing on this cop-killer’s pa- role. To add insult to injury, one of those parole board members said directly to Sidney Dean Porter, “... you whole-heartedly did not mean for this to happen.” Really? I must say, I am impressed with their talent and ability to become ‘one in mind and spirit’ with a cop-killer; perhaps they might share with us mere mor- tals, those fiercely guarded secrets of their mind-reading sensibilities? The sad news is, at this point every police association in Oregon and even a few federal ones, plus countless citizens and even the Oregon House Judicial Committee have weighed in and it’s now a moot point. Come Fri- day, June 7th, Sidney Dean Porter gets to leave prison and go to work on a relatives ranch, out in the fresh Oregon air, with nature and horses and other cool stuff, while we here in Columbia County can only hope and pray the Or- egon Parole Board doesn’t rear its ugly head -- if and when -- that time arrives for the killer of our dear Rainier Police Chief, Ralph Painter. Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors April Bamburg Dr. Ken Cox Lynn Berry Marc Farmer Nicole Glass Bill Haack Ms. Luna Jennifer Reid Gayle Rich-Boxman Randy Sanders Michal Smith Sarah Wagner Photography Chris Barnes Hannah Fleck Silje Jacobsen Scott Laird Gayle Rich-Boxman L.L. 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