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| Key sought to unlocking prison woes |
| By tulsaworld.com |
| Published: 11/16/2009 |
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There has got to be a better way. That was the common theme Saturday at All Souls Unitarian Church as local residents gathered to discuss the problem of Oklahoma's crowded prisons and what to do about it. Statistics show the state is No. 1 in the United States in the incarceration rate of women per capita, and No. 4 in overall incarceration per capita. Department of Corrections Director Justin Jones said that numbers like those create an embarrassing perception of the state throughout the nation. "We are our own worst enemy in Oklahoma," he said. Jones said the state would have to release half of its female inmates just to get down to the national average. However, he told those assembled on Saturday that there are a lot of Oklahomans who just don't care about the issue unless they are somehow touched by the criminal justice system. Jones spoke a day after the state Board of Corrections approved a proposed $560.5 million budget for the next fiscal year. The 2011 fiscal year budget calls for the restoration of money recently cut from DOC. Still, state agencies have been told 5 percent monthly budget cuts will continue through the end of this fiscal year with deeper cuts possible. One of the state agencies coping with the tight budget is the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Department Deputy Commissioner Carrie Slatton-Hodges said at Saturday's event that she believes DOC does an "amazing job" with the money it is given. The dozens of "drug courts" that have sprouted in the state since the mid-1990s were praised by many at Saturday's event. However, Slatton-Hodges said the state is still putting too many people behind bars who need some form of treatment for substance abuse or mental problems instead of prison. Jones said possession with intent to distribute an illegal drug is the most common offense among DOC inmates. "We have some odd priorities in our state," Slatton-Hodges said. Administrator Becky Lawmaster outlined the history and results of DOC's Community Sentencing initiative, which she said is in place in more than 50 of the state's 77 counties and is designed as an alternative to incarceration for nonviolent offenders who qualify. Lawmaster said the majority of program participants have battled substance abuse problems. She said it only costs $5 a day per person and out of more than 15,000 participants only 19 percent have failed to complete the program and have had to be sent to prison. Oklahoma SMART, a prison reform group led by Deedee Cox, put on Saturday's program and is already planning another larger one for next spring or summer. Read More. |
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The dozens of "drug courts" that have sprouted in the state since the mid-1990s were praised by many at Saturday's event, excellent event.Corporate Travel Agency in Quetta