It’s official. Oklahoma has the nation’s highest incarceration rate.
It’s a solvable embarrassment, but not without some realistic thinking about crime, substance abuse, mental health, education and job training.
The state has been No. 1 in the rate of female incarceration every year but one since at least 1991. The male imprisonment rate has fluctuated within the top rankings.
Last year, the Bureau of Justice Statistics ranked Oklahoma second behind Louisiana. Due to prison reforms enacted in Louisiana, officials anticipated Oklahoma would become the incarceration leader. The new ranking became official earlier this month.
As the state with the highest incarceration rate in the nation, the state can rightly be seen as No. 1 in the world in a dubious and expensive competition — the true race to the bottom.
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Mass incarceration is Oklahoma’s favorite method for dealing with social problems, but it only makes those problems worse and the state poorer.
Facing this decades-long crisis, Gov. Mary Fallin in May signed a seven-bill package of smart-on-crime reforms that will slow but not reverse the trend.
More must follow, particularly in dealing with minor probation and parole violations, reducing sentencing options for repeat nonviolent offenders and examining current prisoners for unjust sentences.
Oklahoma’s penchant for retribution instead of reformation has enriched private prison investors and cost the state millions. Meanwhile, we’ve watched other, smarter states close prisons and reduce their crime rates by dealing with drug addiction and mental health issues before they turn into crime.
If Oklahoma wants to get its fiscal house in order, it must get its big house in order. Reforming criminal justice must be one of the first priorities of our next governor for the good of the state.
