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In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
Today you should know that a federal judge permanently threw out Oklahoma’s ban on Islamic law. The Tulsa City Council voted to rename Brady Street to M.B. Brady Street, in honor of Civil War photograph Mathew Brady. Oklahoma City Councilmen Ed Shadid spoke to about 1,100 people at an event launching his campaign for mayor.
Federal officials announced $67 million in grant awards to 105 organizations, including three in Oklahoma, to help citizens who want help enrolling in insurance plans offered under the Affordable Care Act. A mental health crisis center soon will open in Oklahoma City, but its opening will not increase the total number of badly needed beds for people in crisis. Sand Springs Superintendent Lloyd Snow shared in the Tulsa World his top 10 reasons Oklahoma public schools are in a fix. State Superintendent Barresi said Oklahoma will issue a request for proposals to develop new standardized tests in grades 3-8 and will also modify current high school tests.
The OK Policy Blog shared the story of an Oklahoman serving a long prison sentence for a minor crime. An Oklahoma defense attorney wrote in the Huffington Post that a move to reduce federal incarceration won’t fix high incarceration in states. M. Scott Carter discussed how tort reform has left victims of neglectful care providers fallen by the wayside. Oklahoma transportation officials said they are looking at good, better and best options during a two-year, nearly $5 million study of developing passenger rail from Tulsa to Oklahoma City.
The Number of the Day is the number of Oklahomans incarcerated in state prisons for nonviolent offenses, more than half of the total number incarcerated. In today’s Policy Note, Sam Stein reports on how federal budget cuts are damaging scientific research in America.
In The News
Oklahoma’s Islamic law ban thrown out by federal judge
A federal judge Thursday prohibited Oklahoma officials from certifying the results of a 2010 statewide election that approved a constitutional amendment to prohibit state courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases. Muneer Awad, former executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma, challenged the constitutional amendment in a lawsuit that claimed it would stigmatize his religion and would invalidate his will, which he said is partially based on Islamic law, also known as Sharia law.
Tulsa City Council OKs compromise on Brady Street name
The City Council said goodbye Thursday night to a one-time Ku Klux Klan member and welcomed a newcomer to town – famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady. Over sporadic groans of disappointment and occasional shouts of protest, councilors voted 7-1 to rename Brady Street to M.B. Brady Street and to bestow the section of the street within the Inner Dispersal Loop with the honorary name Reconciliation Way. That is a reference to the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Ed Shadid launches campaign for OKC Mayor
City Councilmen Ed Shadid took the stage last night to have a conversation with around 1,100 people about why he should be Oklahoma City’s next mayor on March 4, 2014. That’s nearly double the attendees who went to Shadid’s transportation symposium. And while transportation was a topic of discussion, it wasn’t the only agenda item Shadid wanted to discuss with the crowd. Highlights from his speech included health care, addressing community building (emphasis on accessibility, creating a unique sense of place and hubs of activity – like H&8th), pitfalls he’s seen in local government, and how we might start to address shortcomings in spending and prioritization.
State grants awarded for insurance navigators
Federal officials today announced $67 million in grant awards to 105 organizations, including three in Oklahoma, to help citizens who want help enrolling in insurance plans offered under the Affordable Care Act. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the grants in a conference call with reporters. Grant recipients in Oklahoma will be Cardon Healthcare Network, $178,500; Oklahoma Community Health Centers Inc., $860,866; and Little Dixie Community Action Agency Inc., $580,733, according to an HHS news release.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
New mental health crisis center doesn’t mean more beds in Oklahoma City
A mental health crisis center soon will open in Oklahoma City, but its opening will not increase the total number of badly needed beds for people in crisis. Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has asked the Legislature for more crisis beds and has plans to eventually open five additional crisis centers statewide. Carrie Slatton-Hodges, the mental health department’s deputy commissioner of treatment and recovery, said the need for more crisis beds and centers isn’t related so much to demand but rather to the fact that Oklahoma just doesn’t have enough.
Lloyd Snow: Top 10 reasons Oklahoma public schools are in a fix
I think Diane Ravitch gets it right in her latest book “Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools.” She says the only crisis in public education is the one ginned up by government bureaucrats, major foundations and an odd coalition of elitists and commercial hustlers who have made inflated claims about the virtues of vouchers, charter schools, virtual schools, standardized testing, merit pay, etc. They insist that poverty has no correlation to low academic achievement and that overhauling our entire system along business lines is the way to go.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Barresi will request modified tests for all grades
Oklahoma state Superintendent Janet Barresi said her state will invite both the College Board and ACT to make presentations this fall to a state Senate committee charged with producing a study of testing options. Oklahoma has announced that while it’s still a member of PARCC, it will not use those assessments. Oklahoma will issue a request for proposals for tests in grades 3-8, she said, and will modify its current high school tests, too.
Read more from Education Week.
Am I such a danger to the people?
David T. Johnson is incarcerated by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections – one of over 25,000 people in the state to have that distinction. David grew up in small-town Oklahoma. He started drinking and smoking pot at the age of 17, then moved on to heavier drugs like meth, cocaine and pills. After a few juvenile run-ins with the law he decided to clean up his life and quit using drugs. He enrolled in college to study mechanical engineering and managed to earn good grades while holding down a full time job. Things were looking up, but the chance of a relapse is an ever present reality for addicts.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Move to reduce federal incarceration won’t help states
United States Attorney General Eric Holder vowed to the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates that the federal government will no longer impose “draconian mandatory minimums” for nonviolent, low-level drug offenders not tied to gangs or cartels. So, how will Mr. Holder’s proposal fix similar state issues? It won’t. Oklahoma has some of the highest incarceration rates in the nation. It generally ranks as having the highest incarceration rates for women and is consistently in the top five for men. Most of these inmates are serving notoriously harsh sentences for drug offenses, despite the best efforts of Oklahoma criminal defense attorneys like myself.
Read more from the Huffington Post.
M. Scott Carter: Tort reform leaves victims fallen by the wayside
Last fall I made a trip to Claremore. It wasn’t a road trip or for an errand. I went there because I needed to speak with a woman named Frances Minter. Frances, the widow of a World War II soldier, had lived through a horrific ordeal. Her husband, Jay, died after being scalded in a malfunctioning whirlpool bath at the Claremore Veterans Center. After the story came out and Frances discovered just how lax the state had been in providing care for her husband, she filed a lawsuit. Frances won. But because of a never-ending push for something known as tort reform, Frances discovered that her husband’s life had very little value, according to the state.
Read more from the Journal Record.
Oklahoma officials discuss passenger rail service between OKC, Tulsa
Oklahoma transportation officials said Thursday evening they are looking at good, better and best options during a two-year, nearly $5 million study of developing passenger rail from Tulsa to Oklahoma City. But several proponents of passenger rail service said they’d settle for good: It is much cheaper and quicker to implement passenger service on an existing state-owned freight line between Oklahoma City and Sapulpa. The rail would give commuters an option in the next year or so, as well as ignite an economic spark to cities and towns where the train would stop along the route.
Quote of the Day
Public education has not failed. Ninety-five percent of our schools are successful. Test scores are higher than ever. Our dropout rate is lower than ever. The achievement gaps are narrowing. We must tell policymakers we are here and will not allow our public schools to be dismantled.
-Sand Springs Superintendent Lloyd Snow (Source: http://bit.ly/16TTS02)
Number of the Day
13,759
Number of Oklahomans incarcerated in state prisons for nonviolent offenses, more than half of the total number incarcerated.
Source: Oklahoma Department of Corrections
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Sequestration ushers in a dark age for science in America
On the first floor of Jordan Hall at the University of Virginia School of Medicine is a 12-by-8 room that, at first glance, looks like a rundown storage space. The floor is a mix of white, teal and purple tiles, in a pattern reminiscent of the 1970s. Trash cans are without tops and half filled. There are rust stains on the tiles, and a loose air vent dangles a bit from the ceiling. It is only when you see four incubators attached to six tanks of carbon dioxide that you get the feeling something more intriguing is taking place here.
Read more from the Huffington Post.
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