By Stan Basler
NewsOK.com
Okla. — Oklahoma’s Justice Reinvestment Act, approved by the 2012 Legislature, wasn’t an ambitious effort to reduce incarceration. It never envisioned a reduction in prison population. It predicted only a reduction in the annual increase in the Oklahoma prison population. That forecast was made before a provision permitting those serving 85 percent minimum sentences to accrue earned credits was eliminated from the bill.
House Bill 2131, passed by the 2011 Legislature, provided for prison diversion for some offenders and for GPS release for others. The original bill provided that persons serving multiple sentences without designation would serve them concurrently instead of consecutively. This provision was deleted, limiting the prison population reduction possibilities.
Justin Jones, director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, said recently that prison capacity had been reached. Nevertheless, the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council announced its intention to seek legislation to reduce the number of releases made possible through passage of a state question limiting the governor’s role in parole.
Full story: Mass incarceration is a social, economic concern