Stephanie Henson

February 11, 2021

HDFS 5153

Policy Analysis Project

Incarceration Reform

Part 1: “Where Do You Perceive Injustice in the World?”

Oklahoma has an incarceration crisis.

According to the Prison Policy Initiative, Oklahoma has consistently and for many years incarcerated more individuals, per capita, than the United States, as a whole, and more than any of the other NATO nations. In June of 2018, Oklahoma’s incarceration rate was 1,079 per 100,000 people compared to the U.S. incarceration rate of 698 per 100,000. “For four decades, the U.S. has been engaged in a globally unprecedented experiment to make every part of its criminal justice system more expansive and more punitive” (Wagner & Sawyer, 2018).

The toll on women and families is especially dire in Oklahoma. “Only 4% of the world’s female population lives in the U.S., but the U.S. accounts for over 30% of the world’s incarcerated women” (Kajstura, 2018).  Oklahoma women consistently incarcerate more women, per capita, than other states. In Aleks Kajstura’s 2018 report, Oklahoma topped the list for the highest female incarceration rate in the world which was 281 women per 100,000 individuals compared to 133 in the United States and 15 or fewer in the other NATO countries. “Oklahoma has long had a reputation for over-incarcerating women, especially mothers dealing with drug or alcohol addictions” (Kajstura, 2018).

As a member of the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma, I have had the opportunity to work with and to interview individuals who seek to mitigate this crisis and to make things better. I recently met with Kris Steele, Shana Gong, and Jasmine Sankofa who were able to further explain the crisis in Oklahoma. Steele is the director of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform. Shana Gong and Jasmine Sankofa work with an organization called Forward.us (FWD.us) which is a bipartisan political organization that believes America’s families, communities, and economy thrive when more individuals can achieve their full potential. Forward’s research and advocacy work is in immigration and criminal justice reform. On Thursday night, February 4, we came together on Zoom and Facebook Live to discuss Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis.

The following is what I learned regarding our incarceration crisis and two of the criminal justice reform bills that are being discussed, currently, in the Oklahoma Legislature.

Where do you perceive injustice in the world, and how do you protest it?

“Injustice is oppression,” Jakky Finley said, “Systemic oppression is extremely real.” She encouraged those who have any power or authority to understand that systemic oppression is real. “The horrible thing about oppression is that it quiets the voice. It sets up a narrative of ‘I’m on the top, and you’re on the bottom, and that’s how it’s going to be. Don’t question it. Oppression is quieting someone’s voice and telling them that they don’t matter.”

Finley seeks to change that narrative and elevate the voices and the votes of those who are in the carceral system, to reenforce how much they matter as citizens, as individuals, and as human beings. Finley has advocated for the passage of bills such as Oklahoma House Bill 2623 which was introduced by Oklahoma State Representative Cyndi Munson of Oklahoma City. “This bill would allow formerly incarcerated Oklahomans to vote as soon as they’re released from prison. It would also allow Oklahomans serving a felony probation sentence to vote” (Ross, January 30, 2021). Additionally, if passed, HB 2623 would make clear that, unless an Oklahoman, 18 or older, is serving a felony sentence in a state prison, then he or she is eligible to vote. The language in the bill would mandate educating individuals who were formerly incarcerated in state prisons about their right to vote. Voter education and information would be mandated and provided by judges, by staff at the Department of Corrections, and by language on voter registration forms.

Your vote is a powerful way to raise your voice and to protest injustice in the world.

Better conversations involve using better words and phrases: Finley corrected herself when she used the word, “felons,” and she replaced it with, “people who were convicted of a felony.” Roland, then, told a story about school policies that were changed when he was principal. He said that the school environment changed from one in which the authority figures used to refer to “bad, anti-social kids” to one in which they called them, “superstars.” It was a paradigm shift. The adults started calling the students by the names of the profession to which they aspired, “Mr. Doctor,” “Ms. Pilot,” “Ms. President.” The students transformed when they realized that the adults in their lives saw the best in them, saw their potential. Mr. Roland would review report cards, and he asked teachers to correct their language; “instead of referring to a student as “a thief” or a “thug,” would you please just say, “He took something that didn’t belong to him.” A child could, then, say, “I did that, but that’s not who I am.” When we know better, we do better.

Nicole McAfee agreed, “Oklahoma has been so effective at furthering harmful policy and incarcerating so many people because we don’t look at a policy and say that it’s bad; we look at people and say that they’re bad. We think that certain people still deserve this harmful behavior. We carve them out of reforms. If we were making decisions based on data or even what was the best financial options, the state of Oklahoma would be actively and urgently reducing the prison and jail population, but we still let  dehumanizing language disrupt us from taking action. Words very much matter. At the ACLU that means we’re always evolving and learning language and knowing that we can always do better…recognizing people’s whole humanity and centering that in our policy work, as well.”

Sarah Lankford agreed that words can have painful consequences, especially words like “felon,” a word which has caused potential employers to retract job offers that they have made to her friend who had previously served time for a felony conviction. Lankford urged us to hold people accountable who are in policy-making positions and at high levels of government because, “those words set the tone for behavior.” Consider the transformation at Mr. Roland’s school. Lankford calls it, “a simple way to make a change.” Listen. Listen. Listen. McAfee brought up State Question 805. She said that formerly incarcerated voices were pushed aside; “power relies on certain people getting to define ‘safety’ and certain people being safe.”

McAfee asks that we consider, too, the way that we fund our criminal justice system. The Sheriff’s Association is advocating against Senate Bill 951 because they are funded by the fines and fees that people must pay. “We have funded our system on the backs of those who are most harmed by it. People who are in power depend on the status quo for funding. We’ve normalized an economy that is built on the misery of other Oklahomans.” McAfee recommended a short story by Rilla Askew called “Near McAlester” in which we learn that McAlester residents had a choice, when it was being founded, to build a college or a prison. Because they thought it would provide more jobs, they chose the prison.

I ended our discussion on March 30 by asking for final plugs and policies and programs, for organizations in which we can get active and make a difference. Lee Roland suggested Salt and Light Leadership Training, and Sarah Lankford mentioned Big Brothers and Big Sisters mentoring. Nicole McAfee said that you can go to the ACLU.org website and sign up to become a district leader and get involved, talking to politicians during and between sessions: promoting good policies and fighting the bad ones. Jakky provided contact information for the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma; they can be reached at (405) 242-2031 or at office [at] lwvok.org.

Now that we know better, we have to do better. 

Please click HERE to read Henson's full 13 page research.