By:
Steve Lewis
October 28, 2019 // Updated: October 28, 2019

Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the request of Chairperson Sen. Julie Daniels (R-Bartlesville), held an interim study on an important criminal justice reform issue: Using the criminal justice system, including incarceration, to collect court-imposed fines, costs, fees, and assessments.
[More...]

On Thursday, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a report which found that cuts in funding for higher education have contributed to rapid, significant tuition increases and pushed more of the costs of college students, leading to worsened racial and class inequality.
[More...]
![[Image Source: "OSU in the morning" by sringsmuth licensed under CC BY NC ND 2.0]](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/OSU-in-the-morning-Oklahoma-State-University-Flickr-Springmuth-CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0.jpg?fit=375%2C250&ssl=1)
Oklahoma has not been immune from these issues, but the last legislative session saw state lawmakers provide an additional $25.3 million increase, or about 3.3%, in funding for higher education.
[More...]

OK Policy is now accepting applications for paid, part-time internships in Tulsa and Oklahoma City office during the Spring 2020 semester!
[More...]
By:
Steve Lewis
October 21, 2019 // Updated: October 21, 2019

As the meeting of the OJA board demonstrates, it would be a shame to forfeit the contribution of knowledgeable citizens who volunteer their time, energy, and expertise to make our state policies better.
[More...]

During the 2018 legislative session, lawmakers created a group of 22 stakeholders who have the opportunity to fundamentally transform Oklahoma’s justice system for the better: the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Reclassification Coordination Council.
[More...]
By:
Damion Shade
October 16, 2019 // Updated: October 21, 2019

Reform of the state's criminal code is long overdue — as the code is a major driver of Oklahoma’s expensive incarceration crisis.
[More...]
By:
Steve Lewis
October 14, 2019 // Updated: October 14, 2019

These are sobering findings for Oklahomans struggling to overcome the political hurdles preventing us from dealing with overincarceration
[More...]

This week, we wrapped up our analysis of Open Justice Oklahoma's (OJO) recent juvenile justice report by exploring how incarceration can disrupt youths' lives.
[More...]

For justice-involved youth, current systems can remove them from educational opportunities, family, and community during a critical time in their lives, often severing their link to meaningful relationships and inadvertently further embedding them into a life of crime.
[More...]