Tulsa NORML | Recommendation of Release by Will Foster's Judge

Recommendation of Release by Will Foster's Judge

November 12th, 2009 By: Garret Overstreet, Tulsa NORML

The judge in Will Foster's case recommended Wednesday that Will Foster be released and not sent back to prison.  This came as a surprise Wednesday during Will's parole revocation hearing.  There is no timetable as to when the hearing's administrative judge will make the recommendation, though under Oklahoma law, the governor has the final say whether convicted felons may be released from parole or have their parole revoked and sent back to prison.  As of now, it is up to Brad Henry to sign off on his release to allow him to go back to California to receive the proper treatment for his back pain.

Backstory:

William Joseph Foster, arrested and charged in 1995 for growing marijuana at his home in Tulsa (after a bogus informant's tip of other accounts). Sentenced to 93 years in prison, this was considered to be an an unusually extended punishment by family and marijuana advocates. A year later and after much attention, a state appeals court reduced his sentence to 20 years. He was out on parole by 2001 with the parole terms that he leave the state, so he moved to California, where he would be supervised. In 2007, California ended its supervision, causing Oklahoma's Administrator of Parole and Interstate Services for the Department of Correction, Milt Gilliam, to revise Foster’s supervision. A disagreement emerged between Foster and Oklahoma over the terms of the parole, causing the state to issue a warrant, bringing Foster back to Oklahoma in 2009.

What You Can Do To Help:

Call, write, email, or meet with Governor Brad Henry urging him to sign off on the release of Will Foster and to let him move back California to be with family and save Oklahoma tax dollars on continuing such a bizarre case!

Governor Brad Henry
2300 N. Lincoln BLVD, Room 212
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

Phone: (405) 521-2342
Fax: (405) 521-3353
email: http://www.ok.gov/governor/message.php

Source: http://edrosenthal.blogspot.com/2009/11/will-foster-almost-free-man.html