Quotes of the Day

“I don’t have to go back this time. I get to go home with you guys.”

-Juanita Peralta, speaking to her 4 children after her sentence of 15 years for simple drug possession was commuted. Peralta was among 23 Oklahomans highlighted by a campaign to help some of those serving excessive prison sentences for low-level offenses. Gov. Fallin commuted sentences for 21 of those Oklahomans on Wednesday. [Source: Tulsa World]

“You might catch a train from Oklahoma City to Edmond and then you may get a shuttle or a scooter or something like that to go to UCO.”

-John Sharp, Deputy Director of the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments, speaking about efforts to create a regional public transit system for the OKC metro area. Sharp said residents may one day be able to get around without a car. [KGOU]

“I think it should be a priority. I think making it easier to vote is in everyone’s best interests.”

-Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd, who said she is preparing legislation to extend the time allowed for early voting in Oklahoma. [Source: Oklahoma Watch]

“It’s very encouraging to see that State Question 780 is working as intended. Oklahoma’s experience shows that we can have both less crime and less punishment if we pursue smart criminal justice reform.”

-Ryan Gentzler, director of Open Justice Oklahoma, which just released a report showing the number of felony cases with simple drug possession charges dropped from nearly 19,000 in FY 2017 to under 5,000 in FY 2018, while the number of felony cases with property crime charges dropped from about 13,000 to about 9,000 [Source: NewsOK]

“If we have a kiddo that has experienced trauma and we don’t know about it, that student is sitting in class dealing with a lot of feelings and thoughts, maybe feeling alone. And if we have a staff member who just pays that extra attention, they don’t feel so alone.”

-Teri Bell, executive director of student support services for Oklahoma City Public Schools, speaking about a partnership with Oklahoma City police officers who will notify the district when they encounter a child who has experienced a traumatic situation [Source: NewsOK]

Too many resources in our city can only be accessed by those in a position to work a program, a barrier to receiving shelter. Simply put, they require too much of guests who cannot see beyond relief from the elements, let alone be in a position to make a commitment to sobriety or provide identification. We are shattering that barrier by ensuring there are low barriers to securing shelter on the coldest of nights.

-Adam Luck, CEO at City Care, on the importance of providing adequate shelter to those in need on cold weather nights. [Source: NewsOK]

Six 12 hour shifts with a day off equals 72 hours or more being worked in a 144 hour period. That is still extremely unsafe for these officers.

-Jackie Switzer, executive director of Oklahoma Corrections Professionals, on the impact of mandatory 12-hours shifts for Oklahoma prison guards due to understaffing. [Source: The Frontier]

“I will be the youngest member of the legislature, and people are excited about that. I thought there would be a lot of push back, but quite the opposite. People were very excited that someone as young as I am was throwing their hat in the ring.”

-Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, on being the youngest member of the Oklahoma legislature. [Source: Norman Transcript]

“Prosecutors wield tremendous power, and they are wielding it to send more people to prison than ever before — and Oklahoma already incarcerated people at higher rate than any place in the world.”

-Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform Executive Director Kris Steele, speaking about a new report that shows some prosecutors in Oklahoma appear to be circumventing the intent of State Question 780 by sending more people to prison [Tulsa World]

“Oklahoma does have a vision care crisis, and for the better part of a decade, we as a state have not done much about it. … While I imagine those who do not believe in this crisis could easily blow holes in my unscientific analysis, they likely have not done what I have done. They have not begged vision professionals to volunteer their weekends; they have not turned away scores of low-income patients after an event’s capacity is met; they have not worked health care’s proverbial “back doors” to help dozens of newly diagnosed glaucoma or cataract patients; they have not held sobbing senior citizens as they wept tears of joy upon seeing a grandchild’s face for the first time.”

-NonDoc Editor in Chief William W. Savage III, calling on Oklahoma legislators and optometrists to take action to address Oklahoma’s gaps in access to vision care following the narrow defeat of SQ 793 [NonDoc]