LWVOK Criminal Justice Position in Brief:
The League of Women Voters of Oklahoma believes that our justice system should be fair to all and that every person who becomes a part of the system should be treated with dignity. The system should be cohesive, effective, cost efficient, and data driven and should foster public trust at all stages, including pre-trial procedures, trial, sentencing, incarceration and re-entry.
Persons should not be deprived of constitutional rights to reasonable bail or effective counsel because they are poor, because they live in a poor community, or because it is politically or economically expedient. The system should remove systemic racial, ethnic, and gender bias, including the disproportionate incarceration of individuals from marginalized communities.
Barriers to successful rehabilitation and reintegration into the community, including damaging conditions in jails and prison, restrictions and requirements of reentrants, and legal financial obligations that realistically cannot be paid, should be minimized.
Each section of the Criminal Justice Position adopted by the LWVOK should be reviewed regularly
through the lens of eliminating systemic discrimination and informing action.
Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System
The LWVOK recognizes the pervasiveness of racial, ethnic, gender, and economic discrimination
throughout the Oklahoma criminal justice system and emphasizes that elimination of systemic
discrimination must be considered in all criminal justice reform actions.
Pre-Trial Procedures
The LWVOK supports providing high-quality, consistent, and uniform pre-trial services to every county in Oklahoma.
The LWVOK recognizes the right of the accused to adequate representation and supports state funding of all public defenders' offices at a level that will permit them to fully discharge their obligations.
The LWVOK supports a program of continuous education for all public defenders, prosecutors, and
judges to ensure that they are aware of alternatives to incarceration.
Public defenders, prosecutors, and judges should ensure that all professionally recommended procedures for reliability of witnesses, testimony, and evidence are used.
Bail and Bonding
Ability to pay should be a required factor in setting bail to avoid pretrial detention.
Judges must have access to a risk-assessment recommendation to allow consideration of pre-trial release rather than bail.
For-profit bail companies should be eliminated in Oklahoma.
Sentencing
Alternatives to Incarceration
The LWVOK believes sentences other than imprisonment should play a major role in the criminal justice system. A wide variety of alternative sentences closely tied to community resources and involvement should be used. Because they are most effective in economic and human terms for the protection of society, alternatives to incarceration must be an integral part of the sentencing process.
The LWVOK supports utilization of community rehabilitation measures, including for mental health and addiction, as an effective means to decrease the present system of centralized imprisonment.
Oklahoma government funds should bear the cost of alternatives to incarceration, not the individual.
The LWVOK supports utilization of community rehabilitation measures as effective means to decrease the present system of centralized imprisonment.
Appropriate Sentencing
The LWVOK believes criminal sanctions are for the protection of the public. Rehabilitation is one means of achieving this purpose. Sentences should be uniform throughout the state; there should be no gross disparity between sentences imposed for the same kind of crime, and should be equitable, provide certainty for the convicted, and be tied in a reasonable way to the crime.
Sentencing for criminal acts should be determined by judges instead of by juries. Sentences imposed should be within specific guidelines established by the legislature or by a sentencing commission. Judges should be accountable for imposing sentences within the guidelines.
The LWVOK supports the elimination of mandatory minimum sentences.
The LWVOK believes that any felony limits established should be reviewed and updated periodically.
The community, including our legislative bodies, has the responsibility to be involved and informed at all stages of the criminal justice system -- study, planning, education, and policy-making -- and should provide support for a sound restitution program, reintegration of violators into community life, and prevention programs.
Adding to an individual’s sentence due to previous convictions, also known as sentencing enhancements, should be minimized or avoided.
Health and Welfare
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections should ensure that all correctional facilities provide humane, non-discriminatory treatment of incarcerated individuals including appropriate healthcare, access to community-based programs focused on rehabilitation, education, job training, mental health treatment, substance abuse recovery, and transitional programs.
Mental Health
The LWVOK acknowledges the under-recognized and poorly addressed impact of mental health and addiction in the criminal justice system. Incarceration without treatment endangers the immediate and long-term well-being of individuals facing mental illness and addiction, whether developed before or during incarceration.
Mental health and addiction should be professionally diagnosed and appropriately treated anytime an individual is involved with the criminal justice system.
Staff should be trained to address mental illness in a safe manner that protects both incarcerated
individuals and staff.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections should provide sufficient and continuous training and
evaluation for corrections officers, including psychological services.
Incarceration
A centrally located diagnostic facility, staffed with professionally qualified personnel, should determine the proper placement or assignment of convicted felons. Evaluation is to be paid for by the state of Oklahoma.
An accessible electronic prisoner record system should be established and maintained. It should be transparent enough to be judged in terms of accuracy and equity and should provide the data necessary for annual reports to the public on general trends and statistics.
All administrative officers in the Department of Corrections should be required to have at least a degree in a relevant field, training, and experience in corrections. The “experience equivalent” clause should be deleted from the present statutes that establish the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Impact on Families and Children
The LWVOK acknowledges the damage done to children and other family members when an individual is incarcerated and supports all programs that help strengthen the bond between children and incarcerated parents. Alternatives to incarceration should be made available, especially in the case of nonviolent offenses.
The system of corrections should consider families when incarcerating parents, specifically in finding a facility as close to the children as possible.
Transition Programs to Prepare for Release
Minimum-security facilities, limited in size and appropriately located, should also serve as drug treatment and education centers that provide drug, alcohol, and mental health diagnosis and care.
More training and education programs for medium and minimum-security inmates are needed.
Education, training, and rehabilitation programs should be accessible to individuals for the entire duration of their incarceration to prepare for release.
Re-Entry
Accessibility of appropriate transition and reentry programs, at no cost to the inmate, should be a priority.The programs should be provided pre- and post-release, inclusive of probation services, to prepare and assist the needs of people re-entering the community. This continuity and access to community is imperative for successful entry and reduced recidivism.
Re-Entry Programs
The LWVOK believes that addressing the basic needs of individuals who are released from prison can reduce the rate of recidivism and contribute to restoring these individuals to productive citizenship. These needs include the restoration of voting rights, housing, medical care, and employment.
Voting rights should be restored as soon as an individual leaves prison.
The Department of Corrections must assist all offenders in obtaining services and information necessary to get housing, health care, and employment, and government-issued identification before they are released.
Upon release, individuals must be provided with a clear record of all medical treatment received while incarcerated. The Department of Corrections must assist prisoners to be released with information that will help them receive health care. Prisoners should apply for healthcare via Oklahoma’s Heath Care Authority before emancipation. The Department of Corrections must provide a list of free and low-cost dental clinics in Oklahoma.
The Department of Corrections should provide programs that improve prisoners’ job skills. The
legislature should be educated in the importance of such programs to ensure that they are properly funded. Prior to their release from prison, individuals should be guided toward viable job possibilities and assisted in finding solutions to accessibility problems such as transportation to a job, and safe and reliable childcare.
Upon release from prison, transportation to work becomes an issue. Where community resources are available, the LWVOK advocates for the provision of public transportation opportunities for released offenders.
The LWVOK believes Ban-the Box legislation should be enacted to remove the conviction question from job and housing applications.
Parole
The LWVOK supports maintaining a State Pardon and Parole Board composed of three to five full time members.
The LWVOK believes the Board should be the sole authority for the granting of paroles with the governor removed from any involvement in the parole granting process.
Qualification requirements for Board members should include personal qualifications and integrity
consistent with those expected of high judicial officers who command the trust and respect of the public. Educational requirements should be those that qualify the individual for professional status in such fields as law, medicine, and behavioral sciences. Board members should be experienced in many fields of corrections, enabling them to thoroughly understand the problems confronting both offenders and correctional officials.
No member of the Pardon and Parole Board should be an officer of any political party or seek to hold elective office while a member of the Board.
Members should serve staggered terms.
The LWVOK believes that the method of appointing members of the Pardon and Parole Board should minimize partisan politics in the parole process.
Parole Policies
The LWVOK supports the development of an individualized and realistic parole plan based on uniform criteria for each inmate entering the prison system. The criteria should be clearly defined. A standard procedure should be developed for a systematic review of each inmate, and inmates should be provided with regular counseling on their progress toward meeting the requirements of the parole plan.
All parole investigations and reports should be done by professionally qualified personnel.
Prison rules and regulations should be clear, reasonable, and well defined. Every effort needs to be made to ensure prisoners understand the rules.
During disciplinary action, due process must be protected. Credit-based early release for good behavior, also known as ‘good time,’ should be vested. Maximum limits should be set on the amount of good time lost. An ombudsman system should be established.
Parole officers should be professionally qualified and have reasonable caseloads, as compared to national standards.
Procedures for revoking parole should ensure that parolees are entitled to minimum requirements of due process. Parolees should have adequate legal counsel and the right to subpoena witnesses.
The practice of returning individuals to prison for technical violations of parole and probation should be ended.
Fines, Fees, and Funding
The state of Oklahoma should eliminate court-imposed fees at all judicial levels. Since courts need to be funded adequately, the legislature should allocate appropriate funding to courts from their general funds and repeal any legislation requiring courts to raise their own revenue by imposing fees.
Fines should be assessed based on ability to pay. The purpose of fines is to deter people from violating the law and punish those who do. The legislature should mandate that fines are calibrated according to ability to pay, ending the disproportionate punishments given to the poor.
Courts should eliminate the practice of jailing for failure to pay fines and fees.
Driver’s license suspension for non-payment of court fees and fines should be eliminated.
The courts and related agencies should improve data automation practices. Given the risk of arrest and other consequences for nonpayment of criminal fees and fines, courts are under an obligation to ensure that relevant data is easily retrievable and regularly updated to reflect actual amounts waived, credited, paid, and owed.
The legislature should, without depending on fines & fees, ensure appropriate funding for adequate staffing, availability of programs, and comprehensive, continuously upgraded information technology that allows optimal communication among all levels of the criminal justice system.
Expungement
Criminal records, for either a misdemeanor or a felony, should be expunged once the incarcerated
individual has completed the sentence. For successful reentry into society, expungement should be accessible regardless of ability to pay.
Consensus approved 2023
BACKGROUND
The LWVOK history is important in understanding the path to developing the Criminal Justice Reform position. Interestingly, criminal justice was addressed in four separate positions under Social Policy: Judicial System, Juvenile Justice, Reintegration of Female Inmates, and Corrections System. The 2021 LWVOK convention goal for the new study was to update the LWVOK position, focusing on current issues needing reform in the Oklahoma criminal justice system.
An initial meeting of the Criminal Justice Reform (CJR) committee recognized the size of this multifaceted topic. Therefore, the committee had to define the topics we felt could be covered by the committee while still resulting in a relevant Criminal Justice Position. The committee omitted the Judicial System specifically but addressed aspects impacting CJ in the Position; and Juvenile Justice which was felt to be worthy of a unique study before inclusion in the CJR position.
After a review of the existing positions on Corrections System and Reintegration of Female Inmates the committee thought it was best that the membership review both for updates in preparation for their integration into the new CJR position. The member consensus review resulted in rewriting the Reintegration statements to apply to all inmates regardless of gender and updating statements in the Corrections position on regaining voter rights, uniform sentences across Oklahoma, and record system accuracy and transparency.
The committee held meetings with the Local League Leaders (LLL) to initiate this member review of the study and additionally to encourage each local league to participate in a series of public presentations on selected CJR topics. The committee hoped this would increase member awareness of the ongoing study and engage local leagues in the study topics and process.
Summaries of the events are included in the available study material. These events led to several statements included in the final CJR position. Topics included:
Stillwater/Bartlesville-Families and children
OKC -Discrimination
Norman-Fines and fees
Tulsa-Women leaving incarceration
Lawton-Bail & Bonding brochure
As a starting point to generate the new Criminal Justice Reform position the Committee pulled together the Reintegration of Female Offenders and Corrections System position statements, modified by consensus review. Second, study of the current topics in criminal justice allowed us to establish an outline of topics the LWVOK should address including areas missing from our existing position statements. Research summaries prepared by the committee members, included in the study materials, were used to derive the new position statements. As we developed statements the issue that became most evident was the discrimination found throughout the criminal justice system. We highlighted it in a unique position statement and in the Position summary. We felt that all reform should recognize that racial, economic, gender, ethnicity and other discrimination forms are often at the core of needed reform.
The Committee notes that two state Leagues, LWV California and LWV Pennsylvania had existing Criminal Justice positions. We reviewed both and used topics, and ideas from both with their permission. They have asked that their contribution as a resource be noted in our Position.
A draft position was completed, and the committee placed the following study materials and proposed Position on the LWVOK website:
- Why is the LWV Oklahoma doing a Study on Criminal Justice?
- Proposed Criminal Justice Positions
- Printable Consensus Response Form
- Study Resource Material-a resource for members during the Consensus portion of the study
- Link to the FWD.us study Turning the Page: Oklahoma’s Criminal Justice Reform Story-A second resource document
- LWV Lawton Bail and Bond Pamphlet
Before member consensus meetings began an additional LLL meeting was held to introduce the posted material and demonstrate how to report results from consensus through an online portal.
Following member consensus, the Committee reviewed the submitted reports and integrated changes into the final position statements. This version of the CJR Position was sent to the LWVOK board for review.
The Committee will add this summary as an addendum to the final position when approved. Additionally, we will add the summaries from the Corrections System and Reintegration of Female Offenders both of which are excellent histories. The Committee would like the study materials to remain available on the LWVOK website, and we suggest that the board consider a review of the Juvenile Justice and Judiciary positions.
