By:
Gene Perry
March 27, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/OklahomaStatePen.jpg?fit=150%2C113&ssl=1)
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.
Read more... [More...]
By:
David Blatt
February 1, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/meth-sudafed-L.jpg?fit=150%2C207&ssl=1)
The question of whether to require a prescription for the purchase of pseudoephedrine (the main ingredient in medications such as Sudafed) as a means to help combat the production of methamphetamine, promises to be one of the hotly contested issues…
Read more [More...]
By:
Kate Richey
December 8, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The Louisiana legislature passed a bill this summer to enable non-violent, non-sex offenders to go before a parole board upon turning 60 years of age, even if their original sentence did not include the opportunity for parole. The bill’s passage…
Read more [More...]
By:
Kate Richey
November 10, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/OKWatch.png?fit=88%2C88&ssl=1)
Oklahoma Watch has an excellent series on their Youtube channel examining incarceration in Oklahoma, with a particular emphasis on female incarceration. The videos explore themes like overcrowding, substance abuse and domestic violence, and reentry after incarceration. Oklahoma Watch is a…
Read more [More...]
By:
Gene Perry
June 28, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Benalioulhaj.jpg?fit=150%2C155&ssl=1)
Women Behind Bars is a new documentary about female incarceration in Oklahoma by University of Oklahoma student Amina Benalioulhaj. The film premiered in a packed showing at the deadCENTER Film Festival earlier this month.
A Tulsa screening will be held…
Read more [More...]
By:
Gene Perry
June 22, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/TheLawLibrary.jpg?fit=150%2C129&ssl=1)
Oklahoma leads the nation for percentage of incarcerated women and is near the top for incarcerated men. Our prisons are at more than 95 percent capacity with only 70 percent staffing, which creates a dangerous environment for both guards and…
Read more [More...]
By:
Guest
June 21, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/trevor1.jpg?fit=150%2C113&ssl=1)
Trevor Shanklin is a summer intern at the Oklahoma Policy Institute. He is a decorated disabled veteran of the Oklahoma Army National Guard where he served as a Recruiting and Retention NCO and a Combat Medic with the 1/279 Infantry…
Read more [More...]
By:
Gene Perry
May 24, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/tied-up.jpg?fit=150%2C225&ssl=1)
Last Wednesday, Chris Linder was sworn into office as mayor of Pawnee, but he may not be allowed to serve. In 2000, Linder was convicted of a felony in Arizona for his role in a drug deal and gun battle.…
Read more [More...]
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-05-13-Gov-Fallin-signs-HB2131-2nd-image1.jpg?fit=150%2C90&ssl=1)
Note: The following are the remarks of Andrea Baker delivered at the signing ceremony for HB 2131, the corrections reform bill authored by House Speaker Kris Steele and Sen. Patrick Anderson. For more on the Women in Recovery program, read…
Read more [More...]
By:
David Blatt
January 21, 2011 // Updated: May 2, 2019
![](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/drugcourts.jpg?fit=150%2C115&ssl=1)
Donna Coffey is the McCurtain County Drug Court Administrator in Oklahoma. She has been with the program since its implementation in June 2003, under the direction of District Judge Willard L. Driesel.
Oklahoma Drug Courts – hope for a brighter…
Read more [More...]