Supporters Of Prison Bill Ask Coburn To Allow A Vote

TULSA, Okla. (AP) U.S. Senator Tom Coburn is being asked to allow a vote on a bill that supporters say will help states keep former inmates from returning to prison. <br/><br/>The Republican from Oklahoma

Saturday, December 2nd 2006, 2:22 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) U.S. Senator Tom Coburn is being asked to allow a vote on a bill that supporters say will help states keep former inmates from returning to prison.

The Republican from Oklahoma didn't respond to a request for comment Friday from the Tulsa World's Washington bureau.

But some supporters of the so called Second Chance Act say they thought Coburn had promised not to block a Senate vote on the measure.

John Selph, the chief executive officer of the Volunteers of America of Oklahoma, says he hopes Coburn will allow the bill to stand or fall on its own merits.

Pat Nolan, the vice president of Prison Fellowship, says that states have taken federal money that could have helped cut the rates of repeat offenders and instead paid for more guards and new prisons.

Nolan says the goal of the Second Chance Act is to reverse that trend.