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Guiding Principles of Sentencing Reform
There are efforts underway to reform Oklahoma’s sentencing code. Oklahoma currently has some of the longest sentences in the world, compared to other states as well as other countries. This is due to an outdated criminal code that oftentimes provides extremely long ranges of punishment.
Long sentence ranges, Oklahoma’s use of sentencing enhancements on all felonies, and the 85% rule are the three factors that contribute most to Oklahoma’s place as the number one incarcerator in the world.
Sentencing reform should be done carefully and thoughtfully. Tweaking sentencing in the wrong way could cause the state’s incarceration rate to jump again. Having imprisonment rates go up again after decades of being number on in incarceration should not be the goal of any criminal justice reform.
OCJR has worked with partner organizations Oklahoma Policy Institute, Open Justice Oklahoma, Americans for Prosperity, Right on Crime, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, and the ACLU of Oklahoma to develop the following principles to consider during any meaningful sentencing reform discussions. These organizations represent interests across party lines and we all believe there is a data-driven approach that can work for everyone and save taxpayer dollars.
| I. Sentence Lengths and Length of Stay in Prison Should Be Reduced – Oklahoma’s felony ranges are longer than other states and research shows that long sentences do not deter or prevent crime and do not serve the interests of justice.1 On their own, long sentences also do not reduce recidivism or keep communities safer.2 Felony sentence ranges should be reduced to closely mirror best practices and the criminal codes in states that have undergone comprehensive sentencing reform.3 |
| II. Sentence Ranges Should Not Be Enhanced Beyond the Range Maximum – Many other states have successfully right-sized sentencing by creating clear and appropriate felony ranges. If sentence ranges in Oklahoma are tailored appropriately, there is no need to enhance punishment for subsequent offenses beyond the range maximum. Instead, sentences should be internally modulated, taking into account mitigating and aggravating factors, including criminal history, to set a sentence within the established ranges.4 |
| III. Mandatory Minimum Sentences Should Be Eliminated – Mandatory minimum sentences significantly limit judicial discretion and are a major contributor to prison growth in the United States. A 2018 report found that Oklahoma would need to reduce its prison population by more than 12,000 people just to reach the national average rate of incarceration.5 While recent reforms have helped to reduce the prison population, more work must be done. Other states that have undergone sentencing reform, including Texas, have either completely eliminated mandatory minimum sentences or have very few. Thus, mandatory minimum sentences, if utilized at all, should only be applied to the most violent and severe crimes defined by the legislature, and should allow the application of judicial discretion when appropriate.6 |
| IV. People Should Be Able to Earn Time Toward Release – Mandatory time served percentages (such as 85% crimes) have dramatically increased the prison population. Creating and maintaining opportunities for people to earn time off their sentences by engaging in programming, educational classes, occupational training, and practicing prosocial behavior has positive outcomes. Requiring that someone serve a certain percentage of their sentence, across all felony classes and regardless of behavior, eliminates hope and diminishes the prison system’s ability to manage the incarcerated population. |
| V. Prison Admissions Should Be Reduced by Prioritizing Diversion, Supervision, and Rehabilitation – Incarceration should only be used when there is no other way to keep the public safe. As of January 2019, Oklahoma’s imprisonment rate was 78% higher than the national average, while crime rates across the nation fell.8 Studies have shown that prison itself is criminogenic and does not correct behavior.9 People who pose a low risk to public safety and those convicted of non-violent offenses should be prioritized for diversion, treatment, supervision, and programming designed to provide safe and cost-effective rehabilitation as an alternative to incarceration. |
| VI. The Criminal Code Should Be Cleaned Up – Any effort to reform Oklahoma’s felony classification system must involve an ongoing review of felony and misdemeanor offenses to determine which offenses could be safely declassified to misdemeanors or decriminalized in their entirety. A review must also include the removal of outdated felony offenses (e.g. “Adultery”) and the removal of offenses that could be charged under other existing felony statutes (e.g. “Compelling a woman to marriage” is “Kidnapping”). Additionally, Oklahoma’s criminal code houses multiple versions of the same crime that could be consolidated into one offense to eliminate duplication and provide clarity (e.g. Assault and Battery on a police officer, on a DHS worker, on a corrections officer, on a prison employee, etc.). Moreover, crimes in Oklahoma are defined broadly to encompass wide-ranging behaviors. Crime definitions should be narrowed or each statute should indicate degrees of harm paired with proportionate levels of punishment. Because sentencing is complex and detailed, reforms should be based on current sentencing data and best practices, and requires consistent and continuous oversight. |
| VII. Sentencing Practices Should Be Monitored by a Diverse Oversight Body – Sentencing decisions have far reaching consequences for those involved in Oklahoma’s justice system. An oversight body should be composed of diverse stakeholders from all relevant parts of the system, including stakeholders who represent the interests of currently and formerly incarcerated people.10 |
- Perry A.E. (2016) Sentencing and Deterrence. In: Weisburd D., Farrington D., Gill C. (eds) What Works in Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation. Springer Series on Evidence-Based Crime Policy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3477-5_6 ; Andrew Leipold, Recidivism, Incapacitation, and Criminal Sentencing Policy, 3 U. St. Thomas L. J. 536 (2006).
- Daniel Nagin, Francis Cullen & Cheryl Lero Jonson, Imprisonment and Reoffending, 38 Crime and Justice 115-200 (2009).
- Both Utah and Minnesota have undergone sentencing reform that tackled their criminal code as a whole. A Brief from the Pew Charitable Trusts, “Utah’s 2015 Criminal Justice Reforms,” June 2015, https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2015/10/utahs2015criminaljusticereforms-(1).pdf ; Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, “2020 Report to the Legislature,” Jan 15, 2020, https://mn.gov/msgc-stat/documents/reports/2020/2020MinnSentencingGuidelinesCommReportLegislature.pdf.
- For example, if a sentence range is 0-15 years, someone without a prior record can receive a sentence between 0 to 5 years but someone with one prior conviction can receive a sentence between 0 to 10 years.
- Adam Luck, A Path Forward for Oklahoma. Commissioned by Oklahoma Department of Corrections 2018, http://doc.ok.gov/Websites/doc/images/Documents/A%20Path%20Forward%20for%20Oklahoma.pdf.
- Crimes contained in 57 O.S. 571.
- Oklahoma Justice Reform Task Force, Final Report, 25 (Feb 2017) https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.newsok.com/documents/OJRTFFinalReport%20(1).pdf
- FBI Uniform Crime Data, 2000—2018 (both violent crimes and property crimes).
- Jose Cid, “Is Imprisonment Criminogenic?: A Comparative Study of Recidivism Rates between Prison and Suspended Prison Sanctions” 6 European J. of Criminology 459-480 (Oct 7, 2009).
- Model Penal Code: Sentencing § 8.01-8.09. For Oklahoma, the makeup should be as follows: The Chief Justice of Oklahoma Supreme Court, one judge from Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, one trial court judges, two members of the legislature, director of DOC or representative, two prosecutors, two defense attorneys, one probation officer, one reentry worker, one academic who works in criminal justice research, two social service providers with experience in substance abuse, mental illness or traumatic experiences, three members of the public (one a victim of a felony crime, one formerly incarcerated inmate, and one at large.)
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7 thoughts on “Guiding Principles of Sentencing Reform”
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As a family member of someone who just received a life sentence for an addiction-related crime as a result of the sentence enhancements and mandatory minimums, I am horrified that we have citizens of Oklahoma being sent to prison for life for non-violent offenses. Life sentences should be reserved for those convicted of murder or rape. I had no idea how many Oklahomans are currently in prison serving life or life without parole for crimes that should be punished but not with a life sentence.Like most people, I don’t want dangerous criminals on the street but this is not about that; this is about locking people up and throwing away the key, without a second chance. I appreciate that Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform seeks to find solutions to these long-standing, difficult issues.
I was sent to prison with a 10 year sentence Consecutive to a life sentence for drug charges and OCJR helped me file a commutation application in 2018. Why I was in i was part of the dog program and that gave me skills that I have used since I was released. I got a job as a dog trainer. Recently I switched to dog grooming. I have bought a car and bought a house. My life is completely different now I have held a job since my release i support my children and I completed my probation. I am very thankful to OCJR for helping me. Before they helped me I would of never thought I would be where I’m at in life because I was facing life in prison. I want to see people get help and not to be locked away.
I agree completely. We are putting our men and women in prison for what I consider an exorbitant time. Many of or folks are hurting with drugs, and you sentence them to prison where they don’t kick their habit, they continue it and probably will die there. Let’s try a modest sentence at first, and at the level include Church, and perhaps GED? You could use a group of everyday people to help with prison reform.
There’s an old saying — “it’s not like I committed a federal offense” — that doesn’t make any sense in Oklahoma, because our state criminal code is so punitive. Sentences here are so very stiff, ratcheted up and never down by tough-on-crime legislators, that state crimes carry higher penalties than federal crimes. It’s time for De-escalation. Kudos on this effort.
By statistics, the long term sentencing has very little effect on lowing crime; it only lead to packing the prisons with inmates entering prisons at the same rate but leaving at the slower rate. The OCJR movement will be a big step toward sensible, just and fair actions. The paroling or commuting the sentence for minor drug offenses is only fair. The paroling of inmates for violent offenses or sentencing them to lesser terms is only just. The sentence of 15 years closely has the same affect after being released than what 30 years of incarceration has – long term sentencing has never proven to be an effective crime fighter.
I am currently helping TWO[2] family members with sentences that seem harsh and unfair. I am advocating for their release and demand public officials seek reform or give up the right to be in that capacity if they cannot help reform a system that has caused many to lives to be spent behind bars. After a year long closure of states and more, we have all been accustomed to see what an inmate goes through, and we must reform the system and not punish those with time that they will never live beyond those walls, we must reform a system that disallows a fair chance to every man, seems as if all the options of the law are not given and that makes the OK criminal justice system unfair and unjust and we must not continue to allow tax dollars fund politician who do not seek to reform a system, there are so many ways to punish those for crimes and at times the main players get lesser sentences. We must make the scales of law, fair and just. We must reform the criminal justice system through sustainable organizations such as NAACP, working with the local, state, federal governments. We must balance the scales of justice so that a drug conviction is not a life sentence, but a cop can use immunity[ while on the job], but suicide-by Cop is a violation of the Constitution. Violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964[ Rev.2000] when sales tax dollars are used is a simple violation for most or all African Americans in the OK Dept of Criminal Justice system. African American males must properly identify themselves when in custody. I will continue to advocate until the release of Milton Cox III and Juan Cox II and others.
Hi everyone. I just got a 8 year sentence and I half to serve 50% of it because I got a trafficking charge. I will start of by saying that I know what I did was wrong and I except full responsibility for it. I don’t think sending someone to prison for there first charge is right and especially since it is a non violent crime. I am a father of two beautiful children. I’ve worked and payed my taxes for the majority of my adult life. I am 35 years old. A couple of years ago in May of 2019 is when I caught my charge. I’ve been out on bond since then and have not got any drug charges since then. But prior to me getting in trouble me and my kid’s mom had a fallen out after being together nearly 20 years. I know it doesn’t justify the crime I committed but it would be nice if the D.A. would take into consideration the person I was before which was a hard working lovin caring Father and Husband. Unfortunately, sometimes in life marriages don’t last and some people turn to drug’s and alcohol to help them get through their rough time’s. I’m not saying it makes it right to use drug, but I am also saying one slipp up from someone shouldn’t define who they are. I just wish the system would look at the overall picture of someone’s life before there charge and after their charge instead of throwing the book at them. Thank you and God bless.