Quotes of the Day

“This is a crisis. All of us have known or have a family member who struggles with mental illness, abuse or drug addiction. These are the things we have to change in our state if we want to give our children hope. I am living proof that there is hope and a future for everyone.”

– Oklahoma’s First Lady Sarah Stitt speaking about the impact of growing up with a parent experiencing mental illness [Tulsa World]

“We know what this does to the children who are put in these situations, and we knew if we just stood by we wouldn’t be doing what we are supposed to do as teachers, and that is to help the children.”

-Hannah Fernandez, one of the Tulsa teachers who gathered supplies for the migrant children who will be detained at Fort Sill [Tulsa Voice]

“While Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis is a constant topic of debate, it is often difficult to find basic information about where we stand. We hope that the Oklahoma DOC Tracker provides an easy-to-use way to measure and contextualize our overincarceration problem.”

-Ryan Gentzler, director of Open Justice Oklahoma, on the release of an online dashboard tracking Oklahoma’s incarceration numbers [The Oklahoman]

“If they don’t call us, we’re not going to catch people. If bad guys are out there basically preying on people who are undocumented or here maybe illegally, then they’re going to continue doing that. They’re going to continue attacking this group of the population, and we’re never going to know about it.”

-Tulsa Police Sgt. Richard Meulenberg, at an event encouraging the immigrant community to not be afraid of being deported if the police are aware of their presence [Tulsa World]

“This speaks to the need for affordable housing and livable wages. The current rent cost for a two-bedroom in Tulsa would require an income of $16 an hour.”

-Rhené Ritter, program coordinator for A Way Home for Tulsa, on a survey that found one out of five homeless people in Tulsa has a job [Tulsa World]

“We do know that heavy precipitation events, more intense precipitation events, have been increasing over time. And that is expected to continue to increase as we warm the atmosphere.”

-State Climatologist Gary McManus, speaking about increasing pressure from climate change on Oklahoma dams, most of which have have met or exceeded their 50-year design life [State Impact Oklahoma]

“Look at what divides opportunity in society. Usually what makes the difference is education. So if an education is inaccessible, if it’s only available based on your economic circumstance, then I don’t know how you can be a great university.”

-University of Oklahoma President Joe Harroz, after the OU regents approved a budget that keeps tuition and fees level for a second straight year [NonDoc]

“I’m actually looking at making more money as a machinist than I did at anything before prison. I’ve got a resume, and I’ve got skills in hand. I messed up one year in my life, but that’s not going to define me.”

-Jake Parnell, a student of CareerTech’s machinist program at McLeod Correctional Facility in Atoka [The Oklahoman]

“We are here to say, ‘Stop repeating history.’”

-Satsuki Ina, who was born in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, at a protest of plans to detain 1,400 undocumented children at Fort Sill [New York Times]

“[Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh’s] frank assessments about Oklahoma’s prison needs and Texas’ experience undoubtedly encouraged state voters to approve State Questions 780 and 781, aimed at getting us smart-on-crime. Unfortunately, legislative leadership slow-walked many of the proposals voters embraced. Inmate populations still grow. And now the Corrections Department’s highly regarded director has bailed. If the unthinkable occurs, there’s little doubt who’s to blame.”

-Oklahoma Observer editor Arnold Hamilton [Journal Record]