Posts Tagged ‘Oklahoma’
The American Dream for Who?
The “American Dream” is a belief that anyone, regardless of race, gender, or religious beliefs can achieve the highest form of success and freedom while living in America but only through hard work and determination. While this belief has also been the goal of people that move to America from other countries/nations, for many Americans this belief is a fallacy that has been told throughout the years and in reality, gives a sense of false hope.
Read MoreAG’s Criminal Justice Council Releases Sentencing Plan for Oklahoma
Oklahoma has a chance at substantive sentencing reform for the first time in its statehood and the people tasked with guiding that reform have released a draft proposal for what it might look like.
Read MoreCriminal Justice Reform Bills to Advocate For
The Oklahoma Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives hit one of their big deadlines on March 11th, 2021. That deadline requires that all bills that will advance to become law be passed off the floor in their house of origin before that date. This ensures enough time for the bill to pass through the…
Read MoreSQ781 Funding – Money for Addiction Treatment
It has been almost five years since the voters affirmatively said “yes!” to criminal justice reform that can save lives and taxpayer dollars. In those five years, the relevant stakeholders have not been able to settle upon a correct dollar amount that can be funneled into the SQ781 fund.
Read MoreOklahoma House Bill 1625 – Possession with Intent to Distribute Reform
Defines possession with intent to distribute (PWID) to distinguish between PWID (a felony) and simple possession (a misdemeanor). This change prevents inappropriate and inconsistent charging practices.
Read MoreMedical Parole Reform – HB1903, SB320, & SB396
These bills define medical frailty and medical vulnerability for medical parole consideration to expand compassionate release and safely reduce the prison population.
Read MoreOklahoma House Bill 2879 – Violence Prevention Innovation Fund
OCJR is happy to have partnered with providers of services to domestic violence victims in creating HB2879. In short, HB2879 takes savings from significant sentencing reforms outlined in SB704 and funnels them to providers who can support and innovate ways to reduce interpersonal and gender based violence.
Read MoreOklahoma Senate Bill 704 – Sentence Enhancement Reform
Authored by Senator Dave Rader, this SB704 is OCJR’s most ambitious legislation this session. SB704 has the potential to help Oklahomans serving excessive sentences for truly non-violent crimes while saving the state over $100 Million dollars over the next ten years.
Read MoreGuiding 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…
Read MoreIs Prosecution Changing? What the New Los Angeles DA’s Agenda Indicates for the Future of Top Cops
This new wave of prosecution is indicative of a shift in the mindset of law enforcement nationwide. Most of them agree that the traditional tough-on-crime approach to prosecution and law enforcement has failed. They are ready to try something new.
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