State’s incarceration rate is focus of event
A panel discussion titled “Mass Incarceration in Oklahoma: When Will It End?” is set for 6:30 to 8 p.m. April 19 at Restoration Church at the Dome, formerly First Christian Church of Oklahoma City, 3700 N Walker.
Panelists will include David Prater, Oklahoma County district attorney; the Rev. Kris Steele, former speaker of the state House of Representatives; and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr., senior pastor of East Sixth Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
The free event is sponsored by the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, Voices Organized In Civic Engagement-Oklahoma City (VOICE-OKC), Restoration Church at the Dome and Edmond Trinity Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The Rev. Don Heath, pastor of Edmond Trinity, will serve as moderator.
Event organizers said Oklahoma has the second highest incarceration rate (behind Louisiana) in the United States, and it continues to grow annually, while prison populations nationwide have fallen each year since 2009.
They said the three panelists have views to share on the topic.
Prater has been district attorney of Oklahoma County since 2007. He served as an assistant district attorney in Oklahoma County from 1993-2001 and as an officer in the Norman Police Department from 198088.
Steele is executive director of The Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM), a nonprofit dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and incarceration in Oklahoma. Steele served in the state House of Representatives from 2001-12 and as House Speaker from 2011-12.
Jackson is president of the National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a national organization of African-American Disciples of Christ. In summer 2015, he started an initiative called Occupy the Corner-OKC, aimed at raising awareness about increased violence, particularly gun violence, during the summer months in local neighborhoods.