Okla legislature efforts to roll back criminal justice reform

[patric]

Sounds like the for-profit-prison industry is spreading around some love again:

An important provision in the criminal justice reforms approved by state voters in 2016 would be repealed under legislation approved on a party-line vote in the Oklahoma House of Representative on Wednesday.

House Bill 3694, by Rep. John George, R-Choctaw, would lower the threshold for felony larceny from $1,000, set by State Question 780 eight years ago, to the $500 it had been previously.

Ten states now have thresholds of less than $1,000, and reform advocates insist that there is no evidence that those states have less thievery.

George, a former Oklahoma City police officer, said theft “tripled” in Oklahoma after the passage of SQ 780. Retailers, prosecutors and law enforcement officials have made similar claims.

The higher felony threshold was supposed to lower the state’s prison population and divert offenders to treatment while keeping felonies off their records, and in that respect it has been at least somewhat successful.

That did not seem to much impress George.
“I’m not that concerned with the prison population,” George said in response to a question. “We have to lock up the people who need to be locked up.”

Oklahoma prosecutors have argued that taking away the threat of a felony and jail time for nonviolent crimes such as theft, vandalism and drug possession have taken away their leverage.

Reformers disagree.
Referring to theft as “survival economy,” Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City, said, “Making sure we put more people in Oklahoma prisons doesn’t really do anything except make Oklahoma taxpayers pay more for people to live in our prison system. … What it’s going to create is a continuous cyclone of money into our prisons and our jails.”

The cost of incarceration to taxpayers is more than $20,000 per year per inmate, based on various estimates in recent years.

The vote was a blow for reformers who a few years ago seemed to have convinced conservative lawmakers that sending nonviolent offenders to treatment would be cheaper and more effective than prison or life with a felony record.

“It’s necessary for Oklahoma to adopt pragmatic legislation that not only holds violent offenders accountable but also confronts the alarming rise in crime rates,” George said after his bill’s passage. “We have two options: either we can take a lenient approach to crime or adopt smart strategies to combat it.”

https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/oklahoma-house-votes-to-roll-back-key-criminal-justice-reform-measure/article_f19d6f9c-dbfc-11ee-9cb7-232b9a5dc25c.html

[patric]

Thanks for this link and the link to the article from The Oklahoman. The Oklahoman article helped answer a lot of questions I had about how this started and the KOKI link provided the pretext to the story. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Short answer: Nothing.

In McCurtain County, Oklahoma, Sheriff Kevin Clardy was caught on audiotape in March of 2023 talking with other county leaders about how they might kill and discreetly bury the bodies of two local journalists who had written stories about alleged corruption inside his office, among others.

CBS News subsequently uncovered that residents had been making allegations of misconduct for years, ranging from financial improprieties to excessive force and neglect of duty. An attorney for Sheriff Clardy declined to respond to questions from CBS News but denied the allegations made in five civil rights lawsuits that are ongoing in federal court.

Interviews with law enforcement insiders combined with an original analysis of police data and court records revealed that three-quarters of reported crimes went unsolved in McCurtain County last year and some apparently suspicious deaths were never investigated or reported by the sheriff's office to independent officials — a violation of state and federal laws.

But even after a viral news scandal, a paper trail of alleged violations with audio and video evidence, and calls from the governor to resign, Sheriff Clardy remains in power today.

"Nothing has happened to them," said McCurtain Gazette reporter Chris Willingham. He and his father Bruce were the journalists whose murders the sheriff and others were heard contemplating. "They have to feel untouchable, they're above the law."

Meanwhile, some who consider themselves victims of the sheriff's office have fled town, saying they fear for their safety.

Over a 40-year period, people died in law enforcement custody at a higher rate in Oklahoma than in any other state, and in 84% of those deaths, officers or deputies didn't report their use of lethal force, according to a study published in The Lancet.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/county-sheriffs-deaths-accountability/

[heironymouspasparagus]

At $20,000+ per year to incarcerate, it would be 20 times more cost effective just to pay the $1,000 restitution to the victim and get over it.

But hey, that would make too much sense and would not feed the "good ole boy" political patronage system.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Short answer: Nothing.

In McCurtain County, Oklahoma, Sheriff Kevin Clardy was caught on audiotape in March of 2023 talking with other county leaders about how they might kill and discreetly bury the bodies of two local journalists who had written stories about alleged corruption inside his office, among others.

CBS News subsequently uncovered that residents had been making allegations of misconduct for years, ranging from financial improprieties to excessive force and neglect of duty. An attorney for Sheriff Clardy declined to respond to questions from CBS News but denied the allegations made in five civil rights lawsuits that are ongoing in federal court.

Interviews with law enforcement insiders combined with an original analysis of police data and court records revealed that three-quarters of reported crimes went unsolved in McCurtain County last year and some apparently suspicious deaths were never investigated or reported by the sheriff's office to independent officials — a violation of state and federal laws.

But even after a viral news scandal, a paper trail of alleged violations with audio and video evidence, and calls from the governor to resign, Sheriff Clardy remains in power today.

"Nothing has happened to them," said McCurtain Gazette reporter Chris Willingham. He and his father Bruce were the journalists whose murders the sheriff and others were heard contemplating. "They have to feel untouchable, they're above the law."

Meanwhile, some who consider themselves victims of the sheriff's office have fled town, saying they fear for their safety.

Over a 40-year period, people died in law enforcement custody at a higher rate in Oklahoma than in any other state, and in 84% of those deaths, officers or deputies didn't report their use of lethal force, according to a study published in The Lancet.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/county-sheriffs-deaths-accountability/

Things like this is why I never really ventured into the south eastern part of the state. Always seemed like someone would go down to Talimena Drive and that area getting stopped and harassed by the local sheriffs. Similar to why I started going to Dallas via OKC because I hated going through Stringtown and Atoka. Just hated that stretch between Savanna and Durant. Got stopped in Atoka one time and spent an hour for a speeding ticket.

[Red Arrow]

Things like this is why I never really ventured into the south eastern part of the state. Always seemed like someone would go down to Talimena Drive and that area getting stopped and harassed by the local sheriffs. Similar to why I started going to Dallas via OKC because I hated going through Stringtown and Atoka. Just hated that stretch between Savanna and Durant. Got stopped in Atoka one time and spent an hour for a speeding ticket.

Small town southern town stereotypes are probably not without some basis in truth.

I assisted my sister in driving from OK to FL for a summer in the late 1970s.  I made sure I got a haircut before starting the trip.

[patric]

Things like this is why I never really ventured into the south eastern part of the state. Always seemed like someone would go down to Talimena Drive and that area getting stopped and harassed by the local sheriffs. Similar to why I started going to Dallas via OKC because I hated going through Stringtown and Atoka. Just hated that stretch between Savanna and Durant. Got stopped in Atoka one time and spent an hour for a speeding ticket.

The tactic is to slow-walk until someone brings a drug dog, who will then "alert" after a discrete cue from the handler. Since the dog "found" drugs they can then search without permission or warrants.

[patric]

Small town southern town stereotypes are probably not without some basis in truth.

Dumbed-down sobriety tests lack competence, credibility.
The new field sobriety tests lack any sort of validation, and the temptation to use those tests to win a conviction is always present.
https://www.michigan-drunk-driving.com/content/aride-officers-permitted-testify-drug-recognition-experts

...but that doesnt stop Oklahoma.
“Once you get that ARIDE training, then (officers) can stand in court, and it makes it a lot more likely that those cases stick,” Paxton
said.
https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-regional/crime-courts/grants-to-help-departments-combat-driving-while-high/article_aaf598a0-21c8-11ef-935d-efda901932ec.html

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Small town southern town stereotypes are probably not without some basis in truth.

I assisted my sister in driving from OK to FL for a summer in the late 1970s.  I made sure I got a haircut before starting the trip.

The one time I thought a trip was going to end in a lot of trouble before I got home was in 1994 when I was driving U-Hauls biggest truck towing their biggest trailer with my aunt and uncles belongings from Ft. Lauderdale to Tulsa. I was driving on highway 49 between Hattiesburg and Jackson MS when I came across a traffic stop with the MS State Police and the local county sheriff. As I'm waiting for my turn in line, my mind realizes that the truck was rented under my cousins husbands info and her credit card, the trailer was rented by another cousin and my aunt's credit card. All of their info had Florida addresses, and my last name was not even close to any of the other names, and my info was all Tulsa. I thought I was toast. Gave them my license and the rental agreements, told them I was hauling household belongings, the trooper looked at everything asked where I had been and was going to, and after I told him he just said "Have a safe trip." 

[dbacksfan 2.0]

The tactic is to slow-walk until someone brings a drug dog, who will then "alert" after a discrete cue from the handler. Since the dog "found" drugs they can then search without permission or warrants.

When I got stopped in Atoka it was in 1984 or 1985, and I think there were just being jerks about it. I don't know if they had drug dogs available then unless they had them at the prison in Stringtown. They both reminded me of the way Glenpool when their PD would hang out at the convenience store north of 141st street and HWY 75 or at 201st street and HWY 75 back in the early 80's.