{"id":31483,"date":"2019-05-03T17:29:59","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T22:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=31483"},"modified":"2019-05-03T17:56:55","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T22:56:55","slug":"with-weeks-left-in-legislative-session-governor-proposes-new-criminal-justice-reform-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2019\/05\/03\/with-weeks-left-in-legislative-session-governor-proposes-new-criminal-justice-reform-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"With weeks left in legislative session governor proposes new criminal justice reform plan \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_31487\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-31487 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/05\/Kevin-Stitt-at-Mabel-Bassett2-1920x1065.jpg\" alt=\"Gov. Kevin Stitt smiles while participating in a ribbon cutting ceremony.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1065\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/05\/Kevin-Stitt-at-Mabel-Bassett2-1920x1065.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/05\/Kevin-Stitt-at-Mabel-Bassett2-672x373.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/05\/Kevin-Stitt-at-Mabel-Bassett2-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/05\/Kevin-Stitt-at-Mabel-Bassett2-150x83.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/05\/Kevin-Stitt-at-Mabel-Bassett2-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/05\/Kevin-Stitt-at-Mabel-Bassett2-620x344.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Kevin Stitt, musician MC Hammer and representatives of the nonprofit Last Mile program unveil a coding program inside the women&#8217;s prison Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McCloud.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Criminal justice measures moving through the legislative process got a boost this week as Gov. Kevin Stitt announced a new initiative Wednesday focused on giving offenders second chances. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oklegislature.gov\/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HB1373&Session=1900\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">House Bill 1373<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> would help people convicted of nonviolent felonies get occupational licenses for careers that currently bar felons such as a registered nurse as long as their crime is not substantially related to the job.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oklegislature.gov\/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=SB616&Session=1900\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Bill 616<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> would take away prisoners\u2019 ability to say \u2018no\u2019 to a parole hearing. It\u2019s estimated that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/05\/17\/oklahoma-prisons-overflow-as-inmates-say-no-to-parole\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">two out of three Oklahoma inmates<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> currently opt out of parole hearings, which officials say contributes to overcrowding. The proposed legislation would help prisoners try to earn parole after previously being denied and would discourage punishing parolees who break the conditions of their release by sending them back to prison.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stitt is also calling for changes to <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oklegislature.gov\/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HB1269&Session=1900\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">House Bill 1269<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which would reduce felony prison sentences for people convicted of drug possession and some property crimes to misdemeanors. The bill would give the benefits of State Question 780 &#8212; a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.ok.gov\/documents\/questions\/780.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">popular 2016 voter initiative<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8212; to people convicted before the measure took effect. Stitt wants lawmakers to approve an expedited commutation and expungement process for those prisoners that would be overseen by the Pardon and Parole Board. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition the governor wants to change the way district attorneys and courts are funded. Currently, criminal defendants\u2019 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/11\/29\/the-cost-of-prosecution-da-says-defendants-pay-too-much-of-oklahomas-criminal-justice-tab\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fines and fees to fund much of the criminal justice system.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Stitt also wants to spend an additional $10 million on treatment and education programs that steer people away from prison.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A number of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.ok.gov\/articles\/pressreleases\/governor-stitt-announces-criminal-justice-reform\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">community leaders and reform advocates praised<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Stitt\u2019s proposals, but some, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tulsaworld.com\/news\/local\/government-and-politics\/gov-kevin-stitt-rolls-out-new-criminal-justice-reform-package\/article_1f514e08-3493-5be9-91f8-8d18f1e81f26.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Democratic lawmakers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, said much more action is needed.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nicole McAffee, the smart justice campaign manager for the ACLU of Oklahoma suggested the governor\u2019s proposal was \u201cbusiness as usual.\u201d <\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McAffee criticized the proposal for not mentioning several reform bills already in the legislative process that would soften sentencing laws, loosen restrictions on parole eligibility, adjust potential sanctions and financial burdens for people on probation, revise required jury instructions and require courts offer people arrested for most nonviolent felonies and misdemeanors affordable bail terms. <\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She also criticized Gov. Stitt\u2019s proposal to write a commutation process into the State Question 780 retroactivity bill. <\/span>A commutation process could be used to determine which prisoners should have their sentences reduced. Earlier in the session, a state prosecutor suggested to StateImpact the governor should authorize a commutation process through executive order instead of passing the retroactivity bill.<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McAffee said the governor\u2019s suggestion has not been debated publicly or in the Legislature and would replace a sentence modification plan negotiated earlier in the session.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of the reform measures would be added to bills currently in the legislative process, but some of them are new proposals. This presents a timing challenge for lawmakers because the legislative session is scheduled to end May 31. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gov. Stitt lent support to several criminal justice reform initiative currently under consideration in the Legislature as well as some ideas that haven&#8217;t advanced. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":31487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"page-noFeature.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[989,815,1075,1076,996,1033],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31483"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31491,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31483\/revisions\/31491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}