Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and justice is launching in 2022!
misdemeanor justice
Oklahomans across the state are serving jail days for minor offenses.
Oklahoma jails are some of the deadliest in the country. More than 60% of jail inmates report significant mental health symptoms, though not all have been diagnosed. Many of the inmates in county jails have no known address, meaning they are homeless.
Any amount of time in a county jail can make a person more criminogenic. Not only because the people surrounding them may have increased propensity to reoffend, but also because their support network and resources have been cut off. They are at risk for losing housing, jobs, children, and public assistance.
Some people would say, "Well, then they should not have broken the law." What is often misunderstood is that for people with financial means who commit low-level crimes, jail is not in consideration. They are able to pay their fines and costs and then later apply for an expungement. The people who are most penalized by our system are those in poverty.
While in jail, they are faced with extreme danger. Institutional deaths due to neglect, illness, violence, and mental health decompensation are real threats to people living on the margins of society.
This is why Oklahoma Appleseed has taken on the Misdemeanor Justice Project.
We have hired three Legal Research Fellows for the Summer of 2022 to research, categorize, and study misdemeanor prosecutions in Oklahoma. They will be making legal recommendations on how to classify misdemeanors based on the classification structures in other states. They will also recommend bond schedules and sentences that mirror best practices and do not violate the constutition. This will be the first and most comprehensive look at misdemeanor prosecutions in state history.
Meet Our Fellows:
Misdemeanors Are the Gateway to Future Justice Involvement.
A recent study found that people who were not prosecuted for a non-violent misdemeanor were less likely to commit a felony offense in the subsequent two years.