Justice task force ideas merit legislative support
No confusion
Regarding “Proposed drug law changes would reverse voters’ wishes” (News, Feb. 1): The move by some lawmakers to undo what the voters voted for in State Question 780 is the height of arrogance. I knew exactly what I voted for, as did many other Oklahomans. I’m a criminal defense attorney. I see firsthand the harsh consequences of current drug laws. Having a felony conviction, or even a felony arrest on one’s record, can be a permanent bar to gaining decent employment. The stigma attached to a felony prevents many people from becoming productive members of society.
Many people have told me that SQ 780 will be bad for my business. I couldn’t care less. What’s more important to me is what’s best for Oklahoma. Putting people in prison for minor drug offenses is not the answer. Prison should be for people who are a serious threat to society — not drug addicts who need help.
Senator is confused
Regarding “Proposed drug law changes would reverse voters’ wishes” (News, Feb. 1): It seems that it is Sen. Ralph Shortey who doesn’t understand —voters’ wishes, that is. His job is to implement those wishes —the reclassification of crimes, reduced sentences, and funding of rehabilitation programs from the money saved by incarcerating fewer people.
Teacher pay plan
Virtually all of us agree that salaries for Oklahoma teachers must be more competitive. What continues to be the stumbling block is where to get the funding. Rep. Donnie Condit, D-McAlester, has introduced House Bill 1347, which provides a specific solution to the funding problem by placing a variable tax on gasoline —with the proceeds dedicated to teachers. The tax would be imposed when gas prices are low and would go away when gas prices are high. Condit’s bill would provide the revenue for teacher raises during an oil bust but would not continue to tax us during boom times when there should be other revenues to pay for the raises. This is a common-sense solution that deserves our support. The difficulty is that any tax increase in Oklahoma requires a three-fourths majority vote in both houses of the Legislature to pass —a very high mountain to climb. Ascending this peak will require a bipartisan, grassroots effort. Each of us needs to get involved in every way we can. Even Mount Everest was eventually conquered. We can do this.
Wall is a fraud
President Trump is going to build “a beautiful wall” along the 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico. Never mind that net immigration from Mexico across this border has been about zero for a decade. Trump says the wall will halt the flow of illegal drugs, and that Mexico will pay for this wall. According to ABC News, 63 percent of Americans oppose the wall. House Speaker Paul Ryan has estimated its cost at $12 billion. Mexico won’t pay for an inch of it. Most of the property on which it will be built is privately owned, so advocates of the wall support a government takeover of private American land. The president’s plan to impose a tariff on Mexican products means Americans will pay for this wall at retail stores.
The existing border wall, a 14th-century defense, has been defeated by tunnels, catapults, drones and ladders. A single million-dollar tunnel will pay for itself with the first delivery of illegal drugs. Most undocumented Mexican workers are already in the United States. When states like Georgia and Alabama passed harsh anti-immigrant laws, their farmers’ crops rotted on the vine. The “beautiful wall” Trump used to inflame his campaign crowds is a fraud on the American people, concocted to divert attention from his much more dangerous embrace of nuclear proliferation and gag orders on government scientists.
Squeeze those dollars
Oklahoma City schools can save millions by specifying air conditioners are to be replaced during the off season. The $80 million-plus approved by the recent bond issue needs to be spent as efficiently as possible. The air conditioning business operates like a bell curve: The hotter it is, the busier it is and the higher the prices are. Savings of 5 percent or more can be expected during slow months. Also, the specifications don’t need to reflect the latest bells and whistles —efficiency and durability will suffice. The citizens of Oklahoma City have provided the money; we need to expect the dollars to be squeezed for all they’re worth.
Not the villain
Regarding “Marijuana extract sales remain questionable under Katie’s Law” (News, Jan. 29): I decided to try cannabidiol (CBD oil) in October 2015. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986 and have been in a wheelchair since 1999. In less than two weeks of taking the Blue label sublingually, I noticed a change in my flexibility. After a year, I’ve reduced my baclofen dosage from 90 milligrams to 20 mgs a day. My weak left leg has new range of motion. My neurologist is finally on board something is working a wee bit of magic. I fear big government and big pharma, which want to protect me out of ignorance of the healing potential of hemp until they can figure how to exploit every dollar possible. CBD oil isn’t the villain. s business leaders, we have a stake in ensuring that our communities are safe and that our tax dollars are spent in ways that strengthen our workforce and keep our families whole. As members of the Oklahoma Justice Reform Task Force, we believe any reforms to our criminal justice system should be fiscally sound, data-driven, and keep Oklahomans safe, and that’s why we support the recommendations advanced Thursday.
During the course of the past seven months the task force, made up of a diverse group of criminal justice stakeholders, analyzed the state’s corrections data and the research on improving public safety. Chief among our findings was that threequarters of the people sent to prison are sentenced for nonviolent crimes, with more than half sentenced for lower-level drug crimes and property crimes. Oklahoma’s female prison population is even more disproportionately nonviolent, with drug offenders alone making up 42 percent of those sentenced to prison.
Most alarming, we learned that if our criminal justice system continues with “business as usual,” the state’s prison population is projected to grow 25 percent in the next 10 years — to more than 35,700 beds at a cost of $1.9 billion to taxpayers.
In any other industry, you would not be in business long with such massive and growing expenses, and you certainly would not stay the course. It is unacceptable that Oklahoma has the second-highest imprisonment rate in the country and the highest for women. It is unacceptable that, while more than 30 states have reduced their prison populations and their crime rates, Oklahoma’s prison population continues to grow. We can’t
It is unacceptable that Oklahoma has the second-highest imprisonment rate in the country and the highest for women.
keep throwing good money after bad. Instead, we have to invest our tax dollars in public safety programs that are most likely to ensure these offenders become productive, law-abiding citizens.
The task force recommendations, if adopted by the Legislature, will strengthen Oklahoma’s criminal justice system, focusing expensive prison beds on serious and violent offenders and improving treatment and supervision to prepare offenders to become lawabiding, tax-paying citizens. Taken together, these 27 recommendations would reduce the projected prison population by 9,267 beds, resulting in a 7 percent reduction in the prison population and averting the $1.9 billion in spending on new prison beds over the 10 years.
We live in an amazing state and we refuse to believe that the people who live here are more violent and dangerous than the rest of the country — we wouldn’t have invested in our state if we believed that were true. Oklahoma’s increasing use of prison beds to house nonviolent, lower-level offenders is contrary to research about effective corrections practices. States across the country, like Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi and Georgia, have proven that it’s possible to reduce incarceration and crime at the same time. Oklahoma should be no different.
As business leaders and members of the community, we stand behind this package and encourage the Legislature to adopt these reforms during the 2017 session.