Yet another criminal justice reform in a red state: Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Mary Fallin has signed into law a sentencing reform bill that will allow judges the discretion to impart shorter sentences for nonviolent crimes.
The Justice Safety Valve Act was designed to help the state deal with its overcrowded prison population. Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rate in the country for women, despite average crime rates. Nearly 80 percent are jailed for nonviolent offenses.
The bill permits judges to give lighter sentences when the mandatory minimum is “not necessary for the protection of the public” and could “result in substantial injustice to the defendant.” Rather than jail an offender with an addiction problem, for example, a judge might send them to a a drug or alcohol rehab program.
“Violent criminals will continue to be incarcerated, but the fact is that one in 11 Oklahomans serve time in prison at some point in their lives,” Fallin said, according to The Oklahoman.
“Many of our current inmates are nonviolent offenders with drug abuse and alcohol problems; others have mental health issues.
“For some of these offenders, long sentences in state prisons increase the likelihood of escalated criminal behavior.”
All instances in which a judge gives less than the mandatory minimum will be publicly posted by the Court of Criminal Appeals.
In recent years, red state governors have passed a series of criminal justice reforms–prompting liberal justice reform activist Van Jones to remark, “It’s in fact the case, and we need to deal with it, that red state governors have been far and away out-performing blue state governors on this.”
