In a significant legislative move, the House has passed a bill aiming to amend parole eligibility for individuals convicted as accessories to murder. Referred to as Lauria and Ashley's Law, House Bill 1001 is set to heighten the minimum prison sentence served by these convicts from 50% to 85%. As per the Oklahoma House of Representatives, this bill comes in the wake of a legal loophole that allowed for early release based on earned credits, including those as seemingly trivial as maintaining good hygiene.
The bill was propelled by Rep. Steve Bashore, R-Miami, and was met with considerable support in the House, passing with a vote of 76-11. However, a previous attempt had stalled in the Senate last year. Named after Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, two teenagers who suffered a harrowing fate in 1999, the law seeks to ensure that those assisting in such heinous acts are held behind bars for a more substantial slice of their sentence. "This law is trying to keep these type of perpetrators in prison for at least 85 percent of the time to which they are sentenced," said Bashore in a statement made by the Oklahoma House of Representatives' official site.
Under current law, Ronnie Busick, convicted for being an accessory to the murders of Lauria and Ashley, served less than the expected time. Sentenced to a decade behind bars in 2020 with subsequent probation, Busick walked free in just three years, a reality that struck close to the victims' families, as stated by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Busick's early release was enabled by the accumulation of earned credits while incarcerated, including those accrued while in a county jail. The law's inception is to guard against such occurrences in the future, ensuring a more extended stay in prison for those convicted of similar crimes.
The personal impact of this legislation is palpable for Lorene Bible, Lauria's mother, who was present for the House vote. She expressed both her gratitude and determination to the Oklahoma House, sharing, "We know this will not bring Lauria and Ashley back," "But we want to prevent this nightmare from happening to any other family that might experience something like this." Having endured over two decades since the tragedy, she continues to seek justice and closure, a journey emblematic of a grief too often borne by families swept into the churn of an often unforgiving justice system. According to the same interview, she has been warned by authorities to refrain from upsetting Busick, now a free man.
Supporters of the bill are now looking to the Oklahoma Senate, where the measure will be authored by Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond. The families of the victims, along with lawmakers like Bashore, are hoping for a smoother path to the governor’s desk this time around. If passed, HB1001 will enact considerable change to the state's parole system, aiming to deliver a form of peace to families affected by such crimes while providing a deterrent component in sentencing accessories to heinous acts.
