By:
Gene Perry
August 13, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
After decades of stability from the 1920s to the early 1970s, the rate of imprisonment in the United States more than quadrupled during the last four decades. A recent report from the National Research Council, The Growth of Incarceration in…
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Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.…
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This report was funded by a grant from the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation.
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Oklahoma’s tough-on-crime criminal justice ethos results in one of the highest per-capita incarceration rates in the US. Thousands of these incarcerated…
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Finding affordable housing is one of the most difficult barriers faced by Oklahomans with a felony conviction in their past. Yet Oklahoma's major public housing assistance programs frequently exclude people with felony records, and even those who have been arrested without being charged, from getting help.
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By:
Gene Perry
June 16, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
This year’s Legislative session began with promising ideas for reforms in the areas of criminal justice, elections, and tax credits, as well as a continuation of the debate over modifying past years’ education reforms. Before long, it became clear that…
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Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.…
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By:
Gene Perry
April 8, 2015 // Updated: December 19, 2019
Locked Out from Human Pictures on Vimeo.
In 5 minutes, ‘Locked Out’ by Human Pictures Film dramatically illustrates the barriers for ex-felons trying to rebuild their lives and do the right thing. Excluding Americans with a felony record from affordable housing, student loans,…
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By:
Gene Perry
March 3, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
With the deadline recently passing for bills to make it out of their initial committees, we can take a look at which criminal justice reform proposals are still alive. While no proposals have emerged to undertake comprehensive sentencing reform, each…
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By:
Gene Perry
February 24, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
During her 2015 State of the State Address, Governor Fallin announced a new state website that would identify measurable objectives for state government and track how Oklahoma is doing at reaching these objectives over time. The website looks at 160…
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By:
Guest
February 19, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Sean Wallace is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Corrections Professionals, an association representing employees of the Department of Corrections.
During her 2015 inaugural address, Governor Mary Fallin told the crowd assembled on the Capitol steps that one of the…
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