Racial disparities in the war on marijuana: intent versus impact

This post was written by OK Policy intern Carly Putnam. Carly is an undergraduate at the University of Tulsa majoring in Sociology and Women’s & Gender Studies. She can be found on Twitter at @CarlyPutnam. A recent ACLU report revealed… Read more [More...]

Punishment and Profits: A brief history of private prisons in Oklahoma

This post was written by OK Policy intern Matt Simmons. Matt recently completed his MA in American history at the University of Tulsa. He will be enrolling in the history PhD program at the University of Florida this fall. He… Read more [More...]

Felons and the right to vote

This post was written by OK Policy intern Carly Putnam. Carly is an undergraduate at the University of Tulsa majoring in Sociology and Women’s & Gender Studies. She can be found on Twitter at @CarlyPutnam. Virginia made headlines earlier this… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma has not implemented real criminal justice reform

Yesterday, the Tulsa World reported that Oklahoma judges are not implementing a key provision of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative that sought to reform Oklahoma’s criminal justice system. The JRI law approved by lawmakers in 2012 mandates post-release supervision for felony… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma Needs More Criminal Justice Reform

Faulty implementation and issues not covered by the Justice Reinvestment Initiative leave more work to be done to protect public safety while reducing incarceration in Oklahoma [More...]

Yousef Khanfar and Invisible Eve

Yousef Khanfar is a noted author and photographer. In his latest project, Invisible Eve, he turns his lens on incarcerated Oklahoma women, presenting their images and words in an effort to reach empathy and understanding. Here is Yousef’s artist statement… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma is still waiting for criminal justice reform

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… Read more [More...]

Social impact bonds could fund smart on crime reforms (Guest Post: John Pearson)

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… Read more [More...]

The life and death of justice reinvestment

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… Read more [More...]

Action Items for Oklahoma: Criminal Justice

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. [More...]