Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1990. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol.
By: Steve Lewis
March 2, 2020 // Updated: March 2, 2020
Last Thursday, Speaker McCall dropped a committee substitute for HB 4064 in the House Rules Committee that eliminates the Board of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and consolidates the agency with the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
February 17, 2020 // Updated: February 17, 2020
After 19 years of advocacy for mental health services, Steve Buck came to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs with a strong commitment to serving youth, tempered with an eye toward the most efficient expenditure of taxpayer money. His primary goal was prevention, always seeking to follow the data and make services available to troubled youth as early as possible. He insisted the best chance of success in a young person's life, at the least cost to taxpayers, is early intervention with evidence-based or evidence-informed services. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
February 10, 2020 // Updated: February 10, 2020
There is an issue flying under the radar that may surface sometime during the Legislative session. This is the placing of a statutory cap on what are called "non-economic" damages in personal injury cases. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
February 3, 2020 // Updated: February 4, 2020
In the run-up to the Legislative session beginning this week, two things happened that could affect mental health services for thousands of Oklahomans. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
January 28, 2020 // Updated: January 28, 2020
Most educators will tell you suspension doesn't work for the children. They act out, get suspended then return to school, behind in their work and either embarrassed or pleased by their suspension. Often nothing is offered to the child during suspension but days off from school. Suspension becomes a feeder for the criminal justice system. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
January 20, 2020 // Updated: January 31, 2020
The Office of Juvenile Affairs leadership has announced plans to push through amendments to Youthful Offender Act (YOA) in the upcoming session. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
January 13, 2020 // Updated: January 14, 2020
The Governor's Criminal Justice RESTORE Task Force issued its initial report last week with some interesting narrative and recommendations. One area the task force commented on was bail and pretrial detention. The report correctly points out the inadequacy and injustice of the current bail system. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
January 6, 2020 // Updated: January 6, 2020
When they want to, prosecutors will agree that a harsh sentence is not always necessary to achieve justice. The goal of criminal justice reform is to get them to want to more often. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
December 23, 2019 // Updated: January 6, 2020
Last month, the Oklahoma State Board of Equalization held its first meeting for the purpose of certifying how much money the legislature will have to appropriate for the budget year beginning July 1, 2020, when it convenes in February. The current economy on the current tax rates has produced what amounts to a level budget going forward next year. But with state finance it is never that simple. [More...]
By: Steve Lewis
December 16, 2019 // Updated: December 16, 2019
Instead of a determined effort to fulfill its charge of classifying felonies with an eye toward reducing the prison population, the Council spent the year discussing improvements that should be made everywhere except in court. [More...]
OKPOLICY.ORG
Last Thursday, Speaker McCall dropped a committee substitute for HB 4064 in the House Rules Committee that eliminates the Board of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and consolidates the agency with the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority. [More...]
After 19 years of advocacy for mental health services, Steve Buck came to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs with a strong commitment to serving youth, tempered with an eye toward the most efficient expenditure of taxpayer money. His primary goal was prevention, always seeking to follow the data and make services available to troubled youth as early as possible. He insisted the best chance of success in a young person's life, at the least cost to taxpayers, is early intervention with evidence-based or evidence-informed services. [More...]
There is an issue flying under the radar that may surface sometime during the Legislative session. This is the placing of a statutory cap on what are called "non-economic" damages in personal injury cases. [More...]
In the run-up to the Legislative session beginning this week, two things happened that could affect mental health services for thousands of Oklahomans. [More...]
Most educators will tell you suspension doesn't work for the children. They act out, get suspended then return to school, behind in their work and either embarrassed or pleased by their suspension. Often nothing is offered to the child during suspension but days off from school. Suspension becomes a feeder for the criminal justice system. [More...]
The Office of Juvenile Affairs leadership has announced plans to push through amendments to Youthful Offender Act (YOA) in the upcoming session. [More...]
The Governor's Criminal Justice RESTORE Task Force issued its initial report last week with some interesting narrative and recommendations. One area the task force commented on was bail and pretrial detention. The report correctly points out the inadequacy and injustice of the current bail system. [More...]
When they want to, prosecutors will agree that a harsh sentence is not always necessary to achieve justice. The goal of criminal justice reform is to get them to want to more often. [More...]
Last month, the Oklahoma State Board of Equalization held its first meeting for the purpose of certifying how much money the legislature will have to appropriate for the budget year beginning July 1, 2020, when it convenes in February. The current economy on the current tax rates has produced what amounts to a level budget going forward next year. But with state finance it is never that simple. [More...]
Instead of a determined effort to fulfill its charge of classifying felonies with an eye toward reducing the prison population, the Council spent the year discussing improvements that should be made everywhere except in court. [More...]
