Remember in 2016 when Oklahoma overwhelmingly voted in favor of State Question 780, which allows the more than 60,000 Oklahomans convicted of simple drug possession to seek parole and expunge felony drug possession? It wasn’t until 2019 that Gov. Kevin Stitt retroactively signed the state question into law. The state district attorney’s association and local […]
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Primary issues
An unprecedented number of Oklahomans are running for office, from the U.S. House of Representatives and governor to state Legislature and local district attorney posts. In total, 794 candidates threw their hats into the ring during candidate filing April 11-13 at the state Capitol. This year’s candidate filing came on the heels of a historic […]
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Taking a SHINE
SHINE workers clean up graffiti as part of their responsibilities. Credit: Shannon Cornman Facing possible jail time for a drug possession conviction, the 19-year-old Oklahoma City student knew he was lucky to have been sentenced instead to work in a county-run community service program for low-level, nonviolent offenders. “It’s different,” he said. “There’s a lot […]
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High-stakes pigeons
Credit: Brad Gregg Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater has charged Karen Mae Clifton, executive director of the American Racing Pigeon Union (AU); internationally known pigeon racer Richard Wayne Mardis; and James Orr Steele, president of Pigeon Racers of Oklahoma (PRO), with felony commercial-gambling charges. PETA investigators in 2010 allegedly witnessed illegal betting totaling nearly […]
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A real maverick
David Prater Credit: Mark Hancock On the other end was Scott Rowland, Prater’s first assistant district attorney. Rowland was at the Oklahoma City Police Department’s homicide division; there was a video he wanted Prater to see. A few days prior, Prater had heard about two people trying to rob a local pharmacy, but that a […]