Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1919-09-05
FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 5, 1919
PAROLING CRIMINALS

A life termer from the Okla
homa Penitentiart, on a pre-
text of wanting to earn enough
money to let a rateh; on some
thing that he and another con
vict had invented, asked and re-
ceived a sixty day parole. The
parole was up, and as custom
ary, prison officials hunted for
him but he had flown, far away
no dOubt-the man was Paul V.
Hadley, who was serving SEN
tenec for the murder of a Tex
as sheriff while being taken to
Texas to answer for other ag-
gressions against the law.
In the days when capital pun
ishment was meted out for Il
number of different crimes, all
murderers paid the supreme
penalty. AS we became more
enlightened. sentiment decided
that it were better to handle
criminals some other way, and
Imprisonment became more in
vogue, the idea being to lock
up the dangerous ones so ai to
afford sOcitey protection from
their activities. So long aS the
dangerous criminals H.. kept
locked up. where Their power
to harm is destroyed. the plan
works well. Just as soon tho
as practise becomes general
of turning all sorts of criminals
loose on the public on all sort :;
of preteXts, the very idea OF
penaservitude is defeated, and
the prisons had as well be abol-
ished for all the protection the
public receives thru them.
In the first pace. man ba !!
enough to commit the ac. for
which HadIey was convicted.
is a mental degenerate and Il
menace as long as he is free.
Prison officials must surely be
aware of this. A clean prison
record is no ground for a dan
gerOus criminals release before
his sentence expires, and any
convict with an ounce of the
matter we call brains, know :
that the better he behaves. the
easier he gets along in the pri
son while he is there.
Hadley's record was clean
he and negro convict invent
ed something or other. and or
aflimsey plea that he could get
job and earn money enough
to get a patent on it, he was
released. just as free law a
biding citizen for sixty days
when he raised money thru q
series of crooked deals and
then disappeared altogether.
What right has an state of.
ficial (save the governor eXer,
cising executive clemency) tC
release for sixty days a cold
blOOded murderer of the Had,
found deserving of a long tern
lie stripe whom the courts hat
in prison, for the public good;
What right has a dangerous
criminal of the Hadley strip,
to procure IA sixty day releas,
and secure employment from o.
mingle with law abiding citi
zens?
OF what protection to tn.
public from dangerous crimi
mails is a penal institution. i
any prisoner within it's wall,
can procure his liberty for ;
greater or less time on an,
pretext whatever?
Oklahoma citizenship is will
ling to be taxed to operate tn,
palace at McAlester called :
penitentiary. Oklahoma citi
zenship. we feel, is more inter
ested in having its dangerou
criminals kept locked up, tha.
it is in whether or not that pen
itentiary takes a loss or earn
profit. This same citizen
ship, we feel. is pretty well dis
satisfied with the conduct O
the states penal institutions
in view of past events. Jus
when, pray, may We hope tina
our dangerous criminals are It
be handled as the courts hav
dccreed and the people Of tn
state be given the protection
from them, which is due?