Oklahoma courts should plan to transition back to normal operations gradually and cautiously in order to avoid exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus or facilitating mass evictions.
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The Oklahoma Policy Institute has evaluated legislative and administrative actions — both state and federal — that will best prepare the state for a long-term recovery that benefits the health and well-being of all Oklahomans.
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Spread of the virus within Oklahoma’s incarceration system will remain an ongoing threat to vulnerable inmates, corrections staff and rural hospitals. Without decisive action from state leaders to reduce its transmission, the virus has very real potential to make both prisons and our communities less safe in the long run.
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As the state grapples with this pandemic, overcrowded and under-resourced jails present enormous risk to rural hospitals and to the state’s most vulnerable communities who are typically jailed at disproportionate rates.
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By:
Guest
April 16, 2020 // Updated: April 16, 2020
As Oklahoma families hunker down in their homes because of the COVID-19 outbreak, many domestic violence advocates are bracing for the increase in family violence. While essential for public health, the so-called “safe at home” policies have isolated domestic violence survivors with their abusers under tense conditions making them, ironically, less safe at home.
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While many areas of public concern have been at the forefront of local media coverage, juvenile justice has received far less attention. As our state leaders work to address this pandemic, we cannot leave behind Oklahoma children in custody.
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The COVID-19 crisis is having a terrible impact on prisons and jails across the nation, and Oklahoma’s corrections system desperately needs resources to stave off the risk of an outbreak here as well. Because social distancing is impossible in prisons and jails, those administering these facilities should develop immediate plans for the compassionate release for as many people as possible.
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The Oklahoma Court Tracker, a tool by OK Policy’s Open Justice Oklahoma program, displays information on who is filing eviction and foreclosure cases and where those cases have been filed. As of April 1, plaintiffs have filed 1,116 evictions and 131 foreclosures since Oklahoma’s emergency declaration on March 15.
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By:
Dave Hamby
March 27, 2020 // Updated: March 27, 2020
Nine Oklahoma organizations have come together to urge elected officials and state officials to take urgent action to manage the serious threat of a COVID-19 outbreak in Oklahoma Corrections facilities.
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Eviction hearings are postponed across the state and that means Oklahomans cannot be forced from their homes by an eviction or foreclosure until April 15 at the earliest.
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