Criminal justice reform advocates want to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to prohibit sentence enhancements based on previous felonies for nonviolent offenders. The measure would also allow nonviolent offenders serving enhanced sentences to seek a modification in court. “A former conviction for one or more felonies shall not be used to enhance the statutorily allowable range […]
state question
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Chicken-Fried News: Broken justice
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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State Question 779 sparks debate over sales tax
State Question 779 would utilize a 1 percent sales tax to fund the Education Improvement Fund.
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Marriage equality is up for grabs
The Supreme Court justices (in that very same Supreme Court building) are presently considering California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. They are also considering the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Interestingly, attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies jointly filed the federal lawsuit that brought […]
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No time for wine
Credit: Shannon Cornman Brian Howe of Oklahomans for Modern Laws said he doubts the group can collect the 155,216 required signatures by the deadline. If the campaign is unsuccessful, Howe said, the organization will focus on 2014. On June 28, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the drive could proceed. Oklahoma law states that petition […]