Daughter Of Murder Victim Skeptical Of New Oklahoma Parole Laws

Prison leaders, state lawmakers, and many others talk frequently about the need to reduce the number of prisoners in our state due to overcrowding and the cost to taxpayers.

But, one murder victim's daughter argues criminal justice reform may not be what's best for people's safety.

1980 murder victim Maxine Fullerton was a church-going lady who raised 5 kids. She worked in the laundry at the Helena State School for Boys.

A 15-year-old boy who'd been sent to the school for raping a young girl cornered Maxine in the laundry room, raped her, beat her, strangled her and stabbed her 28 times with scissors. He pled guilty and was sentenced to life.

He'd served 14 years when Maxine's children had to start going to the parole board, begging for Keith Armstrong not to be released. It was every year for a while and now every three.

Related Story: Murdered Woman's Family Faces 'Parole Hell' One More Time

So, when Maxine's daughter hears Oklahoma just passed two laws that make it easier for prisoners to get paroled, she's not a fan.

Robbie Fullerton, Maxine's daughter, says, "I don't see how you can just open the doors and let inmates out and call it reform. When is someone going to put the emphasis on the need to decrease victimization instead of the prison population?"

The first new law says non-violent offenders, where a victim doesn't object, who hasn’t received recent infractions, can be considered for parole after serving one-fourth or 25 percent of their sentence.

The second one says non-violent offenders, who are not sex offenders, over the age of 60 who've served either a third of their sentence or 10 years, whichever is shorter, can be paroled.

Robbie Fullerton says, "For the purposes of these laws, non-violent doesn't really mean non-violent."

Robbie has also worked for the Department of Corrections and served on the parole board so has seen the issues from all angles. She says it seems the only reform leaders seem to be talking about right now, is early release.

Robbie Fullerton says, "Where's the safety for the citizens? It's a money issue. It's always been a money issue."

She encourages citizens to learn about proposed criminal justice reform laws and to let legislators know how they feel about them.