When the Prison Policy Initiative reported that Oklahoma incarcerated 1,079 per 100,000, the state was labeled “the world’s prison capital”. After more than two years, the label has not gone away as incarceration numbers continue to surge.
For lifelong Oklahomans like Kris Steele, hearing his home state defamed in such matter was painful. But he also knew it was true. Steele, a Republican who served 12 years in the Oklahoma House of Representatives (2001-13), is trying to do something about. He has become an advocate of prison reform.
“The reality is we can do better,” Steele said. “We should not be leading the world in incarceration. People in Oklahoma are not worse than people in Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, New Mexico or anywhere else in the nation. We need to understand the value of a second chance.”
Steele has joined those looking to pass State Question 805, which is on the ballot in this year’s election. The former Speaker of the House and Ardmore native says the amendment will not only reduce incarceration but also saves the state millions of dollars along the way.
“State Question 805 gives us the opportunity to begin the process of safely reducing our state’s prison population, strengthening families and making the best use of our state’s resources,” he said.
Under the current system, which employs sentence enhancements, people who are sentenced to prison can have their sentences extended if they have prior felony convictions.
SQ 805 would end the use of sentence enhancements for people convicted of nonviolent crimes. Under the amendment, people convicted of nonviolent felonies could still receive the maximum sentence for a crime, but would not receive additional due to prior convictions. If it passes, SQ 805 wouldn’t just affect future cases, it will also allow for those who are currently incarcerated to have their sentences reduced.
“According to the latest Bureau of Justice report, we have the highest overall incarceration rate of any state in the nation,” Steele said. “We have the highest female incarceration rate per capita in the world. We are locking up individuals who commit nonviolent crimes, and they stay imprisoned in Oklahoma nearly 75 percent longer than they would if they committed the exact same offense in any other state.”
One of the other reasons Steele is pushing for SQ 805 to pass is the money it will save the state. Currently, according to Steele, the state spends nearly $628 million a year to incarcerate nonviolent offenders.
Steele estimates savings would range between $35-$40 million per year, if SQ 805 passes. After year eight, “when the reforms are fully enacted, we’ve saved [approximately] $200 million … the savings could be annualized. That $200 million could be reinvested in education. It could be resisted it in treatment, in mental health care, and in services that actually improve the quality of life within our state.”
Yet, not everyone sees SQ 805 the same way as Steele. Several groups have come out against the amendment, including Oklahoma district attorneys and the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
Gov. Kevin Stitt came out as an early opponent of the amendment.
“Trying to put this into our state’s constitution, it peels back enhancements for DUIs, human trafficking, domestic violence — some of the things I don’t think we need to put into our constitution,” Stitt told the Associated Press.
Excluding violent felony convictions, one of the main criticisms of the amendment is that it treats convicted felons who repeatedly commit crimes to the same sentence range as first-time offenders.
According to Oklahomans Against 805, “State Question 805 will create a culture where crime is okay in Oklahoma by reducing penalties for career criminals. With SQ805, habitual offenders of serious crimes will spend less time in prison. These crimes range from domestic violence in the presence of a child, home burglary, to child trafficking, soliciting sex from a minor using technology, animal cruelty and more.”
Jason Hicks, District Attorney for District 6 in southwest Oklahoma, says SQ 805 would also hamper the powers of the state’s district attorney.
“SQ 805 would take away the ability of the district attorneys, the courts, and even juries, to lengthen sentences for repeat offenders of so-called “nonviolent” crimes,” Hicks wrote in Chickasha’s Express-Star. “Should this petition become law, repeat felony offenders of these crimes would always be treated as a first-time offender. This means that the punishment for someone repeatedly convicted of domestic abuse by strangulation would never have a sentence of greater than three years in prison and could be eligible for parole in less than a year or for an ankle monitor in just a few months. This means Oklahomans could expect someone who has repeatedly beaten or strangled an intimate partner to spend very little time in prison before being released to again endanger lives. Under SQ 805, one of the only ways to ever get such a person out of society for any significant time would be is if their domestic violence actually leads to death.”
Yet, Steele describes criticism like those of Hicks as fearmongering.
“There’s a lot of disinformation,” said Steele. “And individuals who oppose State Question 805 and are trying to protect the status quo are spreading disinformation and using fear and scare tactics to try to get people to vote no.”
Steele specifically points to the complaint that child trafficking falls under the nonviolent designation and that SQ 805 would allow the crime to become rampant. According to Steele, there is not a single person in the Oklahoma prison system serving a sentence involving child trafficking because child trafficking, as defined in Oklahoma’s statute, is an illegal adoption.
“It’s when a person doesn’t fill out the proper paperwork in the adoption process,” Steele said. “That’s what child trafficking is. Human trafficking is a violent crime, regardless of the age of the person. Sex trafficking is a violent crime regardless the age of the person. In fact, in cases of human trafficking or sex trafficking, if the individual involved is a child, the punishment is life in prison. That does not change under State Question 805 whatsoever.”