Brad Gregg Back in September, Gov. Mary Fallin appointed five members to the state Election Board. State law requires the governor appoint two members and one alternate from one political party, with the third member and second alternate from the other party. Fallin’s appointees must be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate before the legislative session […]
legislature
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Counterpoint: : Real reform is still wanting
But even in its beginning, the legislation’s reforms were modest at best. In its final version, HB 3052 is a reform bill in name only — more notable for what it does not do than for what it does. There is even the potential that it could dig us deeper into our current prison crisis […]
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Point: Overhauling criminal justice
The bill funds strategic crime reduction initiatives, requires post-release supervision of all felons and initiates several strategies proven to control prison growth and reduce crime. It’s a tougher, smarter fight against crime. This new policy was developed through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a nine-month, data-driven review of Oklahoma’s entire criminal justice system. Among the shortcomings […]
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Meep, meep
Brad Gregg Legislators and law enforcement keep coming up with ACME-styled schemes to stop it, but somehow that tweaked-out bird keeps booking it, whether its final destination is to alleviate the agony of allergy sufferers or in a makeshift meth lab. And so it goes. In the latest volley in the war on meth, Gov. […]
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A smarter criminal justice system
Oklahoma leads the nation in incarcerating women and outranks all but a few states in its overall incarceration rate. Our incarceration rate has doubled since 1989, and 50 percent of those in prison are there for nonviolent property or drug crimes — at a cost of more than $460 million annually. Each year we pass […]
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Open books
Last year the city saw unprecedented spending on City Council elections on behalf of independent expenditure groups that attempted to shield their financial backers, a situation made possible by the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case, Federal Election Commission v. Citizens United. The proposal, passed on to council from that body’s legislative committee, supported a state […]
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Drug-testing for dollars
According to the state Department of Human Services, 3,922 adults and 17,233 children received TANF funds in January. Most of those households are single-parent homes with low or no earned income, and the maximum time a person can receive TANF is five years over an adult’s lifetime. While only two such measures were introduced in […]
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Deposit insurance
While it’s not hard to imagine the state Legislature holding a special joint session to sing that song with as much gusto as “God Bless America,” it had an opportunity last week to prove how sacred sperm can be. “Personhood” legislation is making its way through the Legislature. The measure grants all rights and privileges […]
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Please don’t eat the babies
The modest proposal by state Sen. Ralph Shortey has predictably attracted national headlines from media outlets who haven’t been this eager to cover Oklahoma since voters here outlawed cockfighting. From the Washington Post to Howard Stern, folks have dusted off their “Soylent Green” references to ponder — and not without merit — just what prompted […]
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Sneak peek
While this is only a fraction of the legislation filed, here’s a vague idea of what’s cookin’ at the Capitol: —No less than five bills would require drug testing of people receiving government assistance. Two of the measures, Senate Bill 1011 and SB 1171, require random drug testing, while three (SB 1073, House Bill 2388, […]