Topic: Criminal Justice Disparities

All Oklahoma children deserve a fair and equal juvenile justice system

By: Ashley Harvey
October 2, 2019 // Updated: October 12, 2019
The justice system will continue to be unfair to people of color unless lawmakers take deliberate steps to fix it. Closing the gap in these disparities for youth is necessary for long-term justice reform in our state. [More...]

Oklahoma’s juvenile crime and incarceration rates plummet, but we must address deep racial disparities

By: Ryan Gentzler
September 11, 2019 // Updated: October 12, 2019
Despite these promising developments, black and brown youth are still disproportionately represented in Oklahoma’s juvenile justice system. [More...]

End of Session Round-Up: Criminal justice reform was not enough of a legislative priority in 2019

By: Damion Shade
June 4, 2019 // Updated: June 19, 2019
See all of our end of session round-ups: Taxes | Budget | Economic Opportunity | Health Care | Education | Criminal Justice Oklahoma incarcerates its citizens at a higher rate than any other place on Earth. If Oklahoma does not… Read more [More...]

2019 Priority: Add racial impact statements on criminal justice legislation to reduce disparities in the justice system

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
January 24, 2019 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. Communities of color are disproportionately affected by incarceration in Oklahoma. One in every 15 adult Black men in Oklahoma… Read more [More...]

Millions of dollars in court debt hang over residents of Oklahoma’s poorest neighborhoods

By: Ryan Gentzler
August 23, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Earlier this year, we released a report detailing the growth of fees attached to criminal court cases in Oklahoma. We found that as legislators attempt to prop up falling state revenues, fees have risen for every type of crime. When… Read more [More...]

Lawmakers must confront racial disparities head-on as they reform the justice system

By: Ryan Gentzler
February 15, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The need for criminal justice reform is well illustrated by outrageous top-level statistics showing Oklahoma’s imprisonment rate among the highest in the nation (about 700 in prison per 100,000 residents), and a need to bring down spending on corrections (nearly half… Read more [More...]

We must move from angst to action in the wake of Brown and Garner deaths (Guest post: Hannibal B. Johnson)

By: Guest
December 22, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Hannibal B. Johnson is a Harvard Law School graduate who teaches at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. His several books include Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District, Black Wall Street, Up from the Ashes, and Acres of Aspiration. A… Read more [More...]

No Exit: The School-to-Prison pipeline (Neglected Oklahoma)

By: Camille Landry
August 27, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Camille Landry is a writer, activist, and social justice advocate who lives in Oklahoma City.  This post is part of our “Neglected Oklahoma” series, which tells the stories of Oklahomans in situations where the basic necessities of life are hard… Read more [More...]

Racial disparities in the war on marijuana: intent versus impact

By: Carly Putnam
July 31, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
This post was written by OK Policy intern Carly Putnam. Carly is an undergraduate at the University of Tulsa majoring in Sociology and Women’s & Gender Studies. She can be found on Twitter at @CarlyPutnam. A recent ACLU report revealed… Read more [More...]