Oklahoma advocates of justice reform heartened by progress so far – Tulsa World

OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma criminal justice reform advocates are ecstatic almost giddy.

In less than two months, a dozen separate bills crafted with the overarching goal of lowering the states high incarceration rate while simultaneously improving public safety have received initial favorable votes in the House or Senate and are awaiting further action.

These bills represent the most significant progress yet on criminal justice reform in Oklahoma, said former House Speaker Kris Steele, an outspoken advocate of the reform effort. The governor and the Legislature are doing a fantastic job with this package of reforms. This is game-changer stuff.

Among the reform measures are bills that would decrease punishment for low-level property crimes and nonviolent offenses, give judges greater sentencing discretion, create an administrative parole process and decrease the mandatory wait time for nonviolent offenders seeking to have their criminal records expunged. The latter is designed to improve employment prospects by reducing the stigma of being a convict.

Read the rest of this story online at Newsok.com. A subscription may be required.

See the original post:

Oklahoma advocates of justice reform heartened by progress so far - Tulsa World