The Oklahoma Policy Institute (OPI) has issued recommendations that are expected to reduce the state’s corrections budget, and also increase public safety. According to OPI, per capita, Oklahoma ranks number one in the country for incarceration of women, and number four of men, yet crime rates are much higher than in other states. Studies have shown that policies, not prisons, help to reduce crime. Oklahoma, according to OPI has already begun to address needed changes in the state’s criminal justice system, but the Institute offers several suggestions on what else can be done.
Included in “Action Items” are removing barriers to employment for reentrants, and others with felony convictions, pursuing alternatives to incarceration, and changing sentencing laws for non-violent offenses. Click here to go to website .
The full OPI brief on criminal justice reform can be read by clicking on the link below.
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