CITY Resolutions approved Oklahoma City Council approved several resolutions during last week’s meeting. The council unanimously approved an ordinance to be introduced and set for two additional hearings. Jason Ferbrache, director of Central Oklahoma Transportation & Parking Authority (COTPA), presented the ordinance that essentially proposed an increase in fines for cars that obstruct the Streetcar’s […]
department of corrections
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2020 state
The governor’s FY 2021 executive budget is attached below. Gov. Kevin Stitt kicked off the 2020 legislative session last week by delivering his second State of the State address, discussing education, health care, the disagreement with tribes on casino gambling and criminal justice reform. “Let me get right to the point. The state of our […]
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Retroactive law
Nearly a thousand Oklahomans will be released from prison early — potentially in time for the holidays. Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law that makes State Question 780, which reclassified simple drug possessions from felonies to misdemeanors, retroactive. Department of Corrections (DOC) must provide a list of eligible inmates to the Pardon and […]
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Oklahoma turnaround
Oklahoma’s 28th governor took the oath of office last week, right before giving an inaugural address that echoed many of his campaign promises. But beyond getting a fresh face, Oklahomans want Gov. Kevin Stitt to look at issues that might be outside his agenda. Mary Fallin was Oklahoma’s governor for the past eight years. Much […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Private records
State agencies are looking for ways to restrict the public’s access to records and even charge for them.
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Chicken-Fried News: #ThanksNoThanks
Attorney General Mike Hunter wants to move forward on the death penalty in Oklahoma despite a report showing systemic flaws that sometimes result in wrongful convictions.
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Chicken-Fried News: Slammers slammed
Oklahoma’s incarceration rate is out of control, and the states jails can’t keep up.
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Prisoners and pooches
What you notice first in this scene is the bond between man and dog, both content to sit side by side as long as they’re allowed. Then your eyes drift to Miller’s standard-issue gray uniform, and you remember that this tableau is taking place not in a recliner in the living room, but rather the […]
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Playing politics with prison
And now, only weeks after session adjourned, the governor has forced out our director, Justin Jones, who served the state and the DOC for 36 years. The reason: He resisted efforts to privatize the state’s prison system. Private prison corporations have deep pockets, and the governor and Republican leadership are only so willing to take […]
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Bar examination
“You read the statistics, you interview educators about it, people who are in positions of authority, but not until you’re in the actual prisons do you see what’s going on,” said Cassie Ketrick, associate producer and assistant editor of the documentary “Women Behind Bars,” made by several University of Oklahoma students and graduates. In the […]