EDITORIAL: 5 strikes and you’re out for career criminal

Criminal justice reform is a noble effort in many ways, but the hard fact remains: There are dangerous people who belong behind bars.

Kirklin Oates is one of them.

Oates was arrested last week in Las Vegas in connection with the stabbing of a Paris Las Vegas restaurant worker. Police allege that Oates went through an employee entry at the casino, stole a butcher knife from a kitchen and then followed the man into a bathroom where he attempted to slash his throat.

Fortunately, the victim survived, although police say the gash will leave a disfiguring scar on his head.

The vicious attack is even more appalling because the 55-year-old Oates should never have been free to carry out such a depraved act in the first place. Review-Journal reporter Glenn Puit revealed on Friday that the suspect has six prior felony convictions in California, some for violent offenses, according to Las Vegas police.

Oates apparently moved to Southern Nevada almost two years ago, Mr. Puit reported, and was supposed to register with police as a convicted felon. He failed to do so. Yet, since July, he has been arrested in Las Vegas five times, court records reveal.

His interactions with local law enforcement began last summer with a complaint that Oates was wielding a large metal pole and threatening a security guard. Two months later, police responded when a convenience store worker said Oates was acting erratically and damaged his car in the parking lot. In October, Oates was arrested again for attacking a man in a wheelchair with a copper pipe. In early December, he was in custody for a fourth time after allegedly damaging a vehicle at a gas station.

The only time Oates remained in custody for any significant period was following the attack on the man in the wheelchair. But he was eventually freed when prosecutors couldn’t find the victim to testify, according to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson.

Oates now sits behind bars, facing five felonies, including attempted murder, related to the Paris knife attack. But his story is a black eye on the local criminal justice system.

It makes little sense to fill jails with nonviolent offenders who have never physically harmed anyone. It is also a worthy goal to re-examine bail practices to ensure that impoverished suspects charged with less serious crimes don’t languish in jail prior to trial simply because they lack the financial means to post bond. But such reforms should not apply to those who have repeatedly proven themselves incapable of following the law, particularly when they have exhibited a high propensity for violence.

Like all defendants, Oates deserves the presumption of innocence. And if he’s mentally ill, he needs help. But for now, he’s right where he should have been months ago.