Oklahoma’s county courts, which handle all civil and most criminal cases across the state, have suspended most of their activities until April 15 at the earliest. There has been no official guidance about the collection of criminal fines and fees while court activity is suspended
[More...]
Oklahoma courts remain overly reliant on fine and fee revenue to provide funding for basic functions of government. This system creates a dynamic where millions of dollars each year are funneled out of Oklahoma’s poorest communities to fund the agencies that should be focused solely on doing justice.
[More...]
By:
Damion Shade
December 13, 2019 // Updated: January 12, 2020
The RESTORE task force could bring greater justice to the state’s prison system by strengthening investments in alternatives to incarceration and treatment, reducing fines and fees, lowering the impact of cash bail on the poorest Oklahomans, and creating a dedicated re-entry system.
[More...]
By:
Damion Shade
October 16, 2019 // Updated: October 21, 2019
Reform of the state's criminal code is long overdue — as the code is a major driver of Oklahoma’s expensive incarceration crisis.
[More...]
For justice-involved youth, current systems can remove them from educational opportunities, family, and community during a critical time in their lives, often severing their link to meaningful relationships and inadvertently further embedding them into a life of crime.
[More...]
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...]
By:
Damion Shade
October 1, 2019 // Updated: October 2, 2019
Oklahoma must invest in a comprehensive treatment plan for the growing hepatitis C crisis in our prisons before the cost of treatment and the human toll of this crisis become unmanageable.
[More...]
By:
Ashley Harvey
September 18, 2019 // Updated: October 12, 2019
Oklahoma should take advantage of declining youth incarceration to reinvest in services — such as therapy, substance use treatment, education, and family supports — for justice-involved youth.
[More...]
By:
Steve Lewis
September 16, 2019 // Updated: September 16, 2019
At some point it would seem to be of no benefit to the state or to offenders to keep them in debt under threat of arrest and jail.
[More...]
By:
Ryan Gentzler
September 11, 2019 // Updated: September 6, 2024
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
[More...]
OKPOLICY.ORG
