The state parole board is moving ahead with clemency consideration of two dozen convicts whose crimes have subsequently been deemed significantly less severe by voters and lawmakers.
State Question 780, approved by voters in 2016, substantially lowered prison sentences for people convicted of small-time drug and property crimes. Last year, the Oklahoma Legislature further reduced sentences on some other low-end crimes.
While neither act was the final word on the subject, both represented smart-on-crime reforms, which begin with the idea that we can’t afford to lock up people whose crimes could be dealt with through treatment and education.
The reforms approved in place by voters and legislators have helped put the state on the right course moving forward, but they do nothing for people already serving time for those crimes.
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University of Tulsa law students, under the supervision of the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office, reviewed hundreds of Oklahoma prison cases this summer to find inmates who are facing significantly more severe prison sentences than they would under the reformed sentencing laws.
The first group of 24 inmates identified in the process were recently approved for sentence modification review by the parole board, which will now interview the inmates and consider any objections before making their recommendations to Gov. Mary Fallin, who has the final word on commutations. Another group of inmates is expected to move through a similar process soon.
Commutation was designed to correct injustices, and that’s what is happening in these situations. The parole board was right to take up the cases and to look at them closely. We hope they will do so with an eye toward bringing a measure of equal justice to the situation retrospectively.
