Topic: Criminal Justice Reform

Misguided budget concerns are endangering criminal justice reform

This year’s legislative session started with high hopes for the strong reform proposals that came out of the Governor’s Justice Reform Task Force (JRTF). While most of the bills sailed through their first tests of support, many have been severely… Read more [More...]

Justice Reform Task Force recommendations could be the solution Oklahoma desperately needs

Just before the start of the legislative session, the Justice Reform Task Force released a report that details the crisis in our state’s corrections system and recommends policy changes to deal with the crisis in a safe and effective manner. If passed… Read more [More...]

Steps forward and back in criminal justice legislation this year

The Oklahoma Legislature took some important steps on criminal justice reform in the 2016 session. This progress is the result of a collaborative effort by dozens of stakeholders to reduce penalties on low-level crimes and make alternative sentencing more accessible.… Read more [More...]

Governor Fallin’s new, inclusive approach to criminal justice reform is bearing fruit

Early last year, Governor Fallin issued an executive order to establish the Oklahoma Justice Reform Steering Committee to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce the prison population and improve public safety. The committee, composed of the Governor, President Pro Tem… Read more [More...]

Don’t let fear make us dumb

Recently a terrible crime has made the headlines in Oklahoma. Shortly after being fired from a food processing plant in Moore, Alton Nolen attacked two of his co-workers with a knife, beheading one and seriously injuring another. The details of… Read more [More...]

Has Governor Fallin turned a corner on criminal justice reform?

Two years ago, hopes were high that Oklahoma was finally taking a different approach to criminal justice, away from policies that had given us some of the highest levels of incarceration in the world without doing much to reduce crime… Read more [More...]