Ohio Parole Board followed state law in Masters' case

Ohio Parole Board followed state law in Masters' case
EDITOR:
I am the attorney who represented Steve Masters before the Ohio Parole Board at its open full board hearing Aug. 9. I write in response to the letter published Aug. 22 from the parents of victim Jodi Masters, describing the board's decision to parole Steve Masters on Oct. 11 as "a real travesty of justice."
Your readers should appreciate that under Ohio law victims do have rights, and that our system of criminal justice is very sensitive to the interests of victims. In this case, the Thomas family exercised their rights to challenge the action of the board which originally scheduled Masters' release for June. Prior to the hearing they successfully rallied electronic and print media in behalf of their cause. Public officials appeared at the hearing and lent vocal and written support for their cause. The Thomas family cannot complain that their voice was not heard.
I am rarely in a position of defending decisions of the Ohio Parole Board. It is widely regarded as one of the most controversial parole boards in the country, and I have many clients who know this to be true. That the Thomas's attribute the decision by the board to its "increasingly more liberal philosophy" tells us plainly all that is needed to know: their's is a hatred and thirst for vengeance that is without end, if not without reason.
Steve Masters served 25 years of his prison sentence, and served it with distinction. He has served longer than some convicted of the same crimes, and less than others. Like the rest of us, he now goes forward but for the grace of God. Perhaps the memory of Jodi Masters would be best respected at this point in time by less stirring of public hatred and more private grief and remembrance of someone beautiful and pure.
BARRY W. WILFORD
Columbus
Maybe critic is too young to recall Meshel's record
EDITOR:
This refers to the unfair and inaccurate criticism of Sen. Harry Meshel 's service in the Ohio Legislature published in a letter to the editor on Sept. 2. The writer questioned why Sen. Meshel "didn t do anything & quot; when he was in office. The writer was off base and way out of line.
That comment was a disingenuous disservice to the distinguished career and record of a legislator who has single-handedly delivered more to this community than any other legislator -- state or federal -- in recent memory. I doubt any currently serving legislator from the area would disagree with that statement.
Perhaps the writer is too young to remember Sen. Meshel's tenure in the Ohio Legislature. Maybe the writer was a bit myopic in expressing her primary thesis. In either event, she was wrong and owes Sen. Meshel an apology.
One need only look at the funding and programs Sen. Meshel has championed and delivered to our governmental entities and such local institutions as YSU, Forum Health (YHA), Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital, Mahoning County Board of MR/DD, the Industrial Museum, Gateways to Better Living, Youngstown Playhouse, NEOUCOM, Youngstown Development Center and CASTLO, among others, as well as countless road, bridge and other infrastructure projects.
The letter was, unfortunately, typical of what has become our local mentality and methodology of trashing everything in the path of making your point. The writer could certainly have made her point without this unwarranted attack on Sen. Meshel. Maybe we can someday return civility to our Mahoning Valley political debate.
I am unabashedly proud to call Sen. Harry Meshel my personal friend, and we all should be proud to have had our area represented for so many years by a man of Sen. Meshel's intelligence, integrity and ability. This area is much better off for having been represented by Sen. Harry Meshel.
WILLIAM A. WEIMER
Youngstown