By:
Gene Perry
May 28, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019

In an earlier post, I discussed how implementation of the criminal justice reforms passed in 2011 was not going as hoped. That post concluded:
The justice reinvestment bill was always only a first step of many desperately needed reforms. Its…
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By:
Guest
May 14, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019

John Pearson is a retired executive in the worldwide logistics industry. He is chairman of the Oklahoma Partnership for Successful Reentry, a statewide coalition of organizations working to help ex-felons reintegrate into society.
Social Impact bonds (SIB) are a promising…
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By:
Gene Perry
May 7, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019

For several days in April, the Tulsa County Jail refused inmates arrested on municipal charges. The drastic measure was taken in response to severe overcrowding. At the height of the crisis, the facility contained 1,968 prisoners, which is over 300…
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By:
Gene Perry
March 21, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019

We continue to follow counterproductive policies that push Oklahomans trying to escape addiction into a downward spiral, and the problem is growing more costly to taxpayers every year.
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By:
Guest
December 26, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019

Barry Friedman is a regular contributor to the OK Policy Blog. He writes the column, “Barry Friedman At Large” for Tulsa People Magazine, is a stand-up comedian, and is the author of two books, “Road Comic” and “Funny You Should…
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By:
Gene Perry
November 2, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019

To find more about all of the state questions on the ballot in November, see our 2012 State Questions page.
Oklahoma is the only state that requires the governor to approve every parole. Removing the governor from the parole process…
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By:
Gene Perry
September 26, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019

To find more about all of the state questions on the ballot in November, see our 2012 State Questions page.
State Question 762, on the ballot this November, would make paroles granted by the Pardon and Parole Board for non-violent…
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By:
Gene Perry
July 5, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019

Oklahoma’s prisons are in a crisis. The state ranks 1st in the nation for incarceration of women per capita and 4th for men. With budgets not adequate to oversee an ever-growing inmate population, the corrections system is severely understaffed. And…
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By:
Gene Perry
May 7, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019

Mike Connelly was the first research director the now-defunct Oklahoma Sentencing Commission in the 1990s. He went on to direct sentencing commissions in Maryland and Wisconsin before returning to Oklahoma to manage the state DOC’s Evaluation & Analysis unit until…
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By:
Gene Perry
March 27, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019

A new criminal justice reform law seeks to reduce crime and ease the burden on overcrowded, understaffed prisons. We explain what the new law does and what still stands in the way of reform.
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