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…
Read more [More...]
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…
Read more [More...]
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.
Read more... [More...]
By:
David Blatt
February 1, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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...]