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Newsbrief:
Oklahoma
Report
Urges
Sanity
in
Sentencing
2/21/03
The Oklahoma Sentencing Commission
will recommend major changes in Oklahoma sentencing policies as part of
an effort to rein in out of control prison spending in the Sooner State,
the Daily Oklahoman reported Wednesday. The recommendation will come
as the state grapples with a prison budget that has doubled to $400 million
per year in the last decade, largely driven by Oklahoma politicians' reflexive
embrace of ever harsher drug sentences. Currently, drug offenders
make up a full third of all new prisoners, according to the Oklahoma Criminal
Justice Resource Center, a state agency (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/264.html#oklahomaprisons).
The Daily Oklahoman received
an advance copy of a sentencing reform report produced by the Oklahoma
Criminal Justice Resource Center for the Sentencing Commission, and reported
that it "suggests major reforms in how criminals, specifically drug offenders,
are sentenced in Oklahoma."
According to the Oklahoman,
the report calls for:
-
Intermediate sanctions for probation
and parole violations. Under current law, probation or parole violators
are sent to prison.
-
Quantity thresholds for drug
crimes, especially methamphetamine offenses. Oklahoma law currently
allows no discretion for certain cocaine and meth offenses.
-
Lower sentences for "low-level"
meth manufacturing, particularly when the drug is made for personal use
and not for sale.
-
Increased use of misdemeanor
convictions and community sentencing for drug offenders.
-
Lower sentences for drug possession.
-
Probation for nonviolent repeat
offenders.
-
Allow probation for non-violent
repeat offenders.
Oklahoma, a state where sentences
in the centuries are not uncommon and thousand-year sentences not unheard
of, has a history of being harsh with drug offenders, particularly those
identified with the demon drug du jour, in the present case, methamphetamine.
Under current Oklahoma law, meth cooks can receive life in prison.
But the state is having problems affording the prison sentences it loves
to dish out.
Lowering the number of drug
offenders could save big money, Corrections Department spokesman Jerry
Massie told the Oklahoman. "That seems to be the largest category
of people coming in, is drug crimes," Massie said. "It's been that
way for several years. "The major way we're going to reduce our budget
is if the population (of prisoners) goes down."
-- END --
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Issue #275, 2/21/03
Out from the Shadows: First Latin American Anti-Prohibition Summit Convenes in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Mérida Interview: María Mercedes Moreno of Mama Coca | Mérida Interview: Luiz Paulo Guanabara, Brazil, Executive Director of Psico-Tropicus | Rosenthal Verdict Fallout: Angry Jurors, Media Attention, a New Bill in Congress | Victory for Bolivian Coca-Growers Imminent, Reports Say Government Will Allow Coca in the Chapare | Thailand War on Drugs Turns Murderous, 600 Killed This Month -- Human Rights Groups Denounce Death Squads, Executions | Peoria Needle Lady Busted in Pekin, But Charges Later Dropped | Drug Czar's Office Masks TRUE Costs of War on Drugs in Federal Budget | Newsbrief: DEA Kills 14-Year-Old Girl in San Antonio, Claims Self Defense | Newsbrief: US Spooks Killed, Captured in Colombia | Newsbrief: French Cannabis Activist Faces Jail for "Encouraging Drug Use" | Newsbrief: Corrupt Cop of the Week I | Newsbrief: Corrupt Cop of the Week II | Newsbrief: Oklahoma Report Urges Sanity in Sentencing | DC Job Opportunity at DRCNet -- Campus Coordinator | The Reformer's Calendar
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