Damion served as the criminal justice policy analyst for the Oklahoma Policy Institute from July 2018 until June 2022. He grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and has lived in Oklahoma since the late 90s. Prior to joining OK Policy, he was an educator at Jenks Public Schools and the Oklahoma School for the Performing Arts. He’s written education and justice features as a contributing writer for the Tulsa Voice since 2016, and he was awarded best Education and General News Reporting features by the Society for Professional Journalists in 2017. Damion earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Oral Roberts University and started several voter registration and political advocacy initiatives during his time on campus. He lives in Tulsa with his wife Rachel.
By: Damion Shade
June 14, 2021 // Updated: June 29, 2021
Criminal justice reform was a lower profile priority in Oklahoma’s 2021 legislative session compared to previous years. Despite this fact, several significant reforms aimed at increasing economic opportunity for justice-involved families were signed into law. [More...]
By: Damion Shade
March 12, 2021 // Updated: March 12, 2021
Each year, thousands of Oklahomans face driver’s license suspension for failure to pay court fines and fees. As OK Policy has reported previously, tens of thousands of failure to pay arrest warrants are issued each year to the poorest Oklahomans. [More...]
By: Damion Shade
December 9, 2020 // Updated: December 10, 2020
While much of this conversation has been focused on municipal budgets and inadequate funding for mental health and social services, it’s also critical that lawmakers consider how the system of court fines and fees contributes to racial disparities in both policing and incarceration. [More...]
By: Damion Shade
August 25, 2020 // Updated: August 25, 2020
As a result of parole reform, Oklahoma is no longer the prison capital of the world. The state now has the nation’s third highest per capita incarceration rate behind Louisiana and Mississippi. [More...]
By: Damion Shade
June 26, 2020 // Updated: June 26, 2020
Beyond its enormous implications for our health care system, State Question 802, the ballot measure to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma, is also a significant criminal justice issue. Nearly a decade of evidence shows that expanding Medicaid increases access to mental… Read more [More...]
By: Damion Shade
May 1, 2020 // Updated: May 12, 2020
Spread of the virus within Oklahoma’s incarceration system will remain an ongoing threat to vulnerable inmates, corrections staff and rural hospitals. Without decisive action from state leaders to reduce its transmission, the virus has very real potential to make both prisons and our communities less safe in the long run. [More...]
By: Damion Shade
April 24, 2020 // Updated: April 24, 2020
As the state grapples with this pandemic, overcrowded and under-resourced jails present enormous risk to rural hospitals and to the state’s most vulnerable communities who are typically jailed at disproportionate rates. [More...]
By: Damion Shade
April 7, 2020 // Updated: April 7, 2020
The COVID-19 crisis is having a terrible impact on prisons and jails across the nation, and Oklahoma’s corrections system desperately needs resources to stave off the risk of an outbreak here as well. Because social distancing is impossible in prisons and jails, those administering these facilities should develop immediate plans for the compassionate release for as many people as possible. [More...]
By: Damion Shade
March 24, 2020 // Updated: March 26, 2020
Because Oklahoma still has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation, this problem will require more comprehensive solutions than those offered so far. [More...]
OKPOLICY.ORG
Criminal justice reform was a lower profile priority in Oklahoma’s 2021 legislative session compared to previous years. Despite this fact, several significant reforms aimed at increasing economic opportunity for justice-involved families were signed into law. [More...]
Each year, thousands of Oklahomans face driver’s license suspension for failure to pay court fines and fees. As OK Policy has reported previously, tens of thousands of failure to pay arrest warrants are issued each year to the poorest Oklahomans. [More...]
While much of this conversation has been focused on municipal budgets and inadequate funding for mental health and social services, it’s also critical that lawmakers consider how the system of court fines and fees contributes to racial disparities in both policing and incarceration. [More...]
Numerous prisons in this state are battling growing outbreaks, but Oklahoma’s policymakers still have time to act. [More...]
As a result of parole reform, Oklahoma is no longer the prison capital of the world. The state now has the nation’s third highest per capita incarceration rate behind Louisiana and Mississippi. [More...]
Spread of the virus within Oklahoma’s incarceration system will remain an ongoing threat to vulnerable inmates, corrections staff and rural hospitals. Without decisive action from state leaders to reduce its transmission, the virus has very real potential to make both prisons and our communities less safe in the long run. [More...]
As the state grapples with this pandemic, overcrowded and under-resourced jails present enormous risk to rural hospitals and to the state’s most vulnerable communities who are typically jailed at disproportionate rates. [More...]
The COVID-19 crisis is having a terrible impact on prisons and jails across the nation, and Oklahoma’s corrections system desperately needs resources to stave off the risk of an outbreak here as well. Because social distancing is impossible in prisons and jails, those administering these facilities should develop immediate plans for the compassionate release for as many people as possible. [More...]
Because Oklahoma still has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation, this problem will require more comprehensive solutions than those offered so far. [More...]
