To date, Oklahoma has paid over $425,000 to incarcerate Larry Yarbrough, who has served 17 years of a life without parole (LWOP) sentence for a drug crime. He is 61 years old. On August 17, 2011, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board will consider whether to commute Larry’’s sentence.

Larry clearly got a tough break. Typically, the punishment for this sort of crime is 15 years. We know that murderers who serve life sentences are eligible for parole. How much sense does it make for Oklahoma to deny parole to a drug offender? The fact is LWOP was originally intended only to be an alternative between life imprisonment and the death penalty in capital cases.

Conservative organizations like Right on Crime, whose priority is public safety, concur that the focus should be on incarcerating people who actually represent a threat to society. The group launched an aggressive sentencing reform campaign, citing the exorbitant costs of incarcerating everyone for purely political reasons, and for the sake of winning at the numbers game.

A life without parole for a drug crime sentence is disproportionate in three respects:

1.The cost of such a sentence of incarceration is disproportionate to the risk to public safety. It is critical that states use their dwindling tax dollars wisely. Being smart on crime and protecting citizens are the goals. Oklahoma does not have to have one of the highest prison populations in the nation to be a safe state;

2.The severity of this sentence is disproportionate to the severity of the offense. The Eighth Amendment forbids not only cruel and unusual punishment, but also punishment that is disproportionate. We have a duty to impose a limit on how far legislatures and judges may go in depriving people of their liberty, especially when it is a lifelong deprivation; and

3.This sentence is grossly disproportionate to sentences imposed for similar offenses, upon offenders with similar criminal histories. Only 44 of the almost 10,000 people serving time in Oklahoma prisons for drug offenses are serving LWOP. Why such a small number? One would think these 44 people committed crimes of epic proportions. Not so. These 44 people simply exercised their right to jury trial and, because Oklahoma allows LWOP for drug crimes, DAs convinced their juries that this sentence was fitting and proper.

It is fiscally irresponsible to keep Larry Yarbrough locked up. The 17 years he has served is enough for the crime he committed. Tell the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board and Gov. Mary Fallin to commute this sentence.

Please read Senator Constance Johnson’s advocacy letter.

Contact Debra Hampton, counsel for Larry Yarbrough, at 405-250-0966 or email to dkhampton@yahoo.com