In 2016, Oklahoma voters made simple drug possession a misdemeanor instead of a felony. By voting yes to State Question 780, Oklahomans expressed a clear desire to prioritize treatment over incarceration for those struggling with addiction. These changes raised significant public policy and moral questions. What should be done about the people serving felony sentences in Oklahoma prisons that would be misdemeanors under current law, and what about the thousands more with prior felony convictions for crimes that are now less serious offenses?
HB 1269 was the bill designed to address these issues. Unfortunately, efforts to make the historic impact of State Question 780 retroactive appear to have stalled in the Legislature. It is unlikely that Oklahoma will lose our troubling designation as the place with the highest per capita incarceration rate on Earth unless lawmakers revisit this issue.
Retroactivity would offer justice for hundreds currently in prison
HB 1269 would have created the opportunity for nearly 1,000 people serving time in prison for simple possession to have their felony sentences commuted by the Pardon and Parole Board. If the Governor had signed the bill in its current form, these commutations would have started in December or January after the bill takes effect in November. Now, these individuals will remain in prison for a crime that would come with no prison time if they were arrested today.
HB 1269 is one of the few bills this session that would have immediately lowered the number of Oklahomans in prison. The fact that this bill has failed means that Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis will not lessen before 2020. By failing to address this issue, policymakers have guaranteed that the unsustainable growth of Oklahoma prisons will continue for the foreseeable future. Millions of dollars in saved incarceration cost, as well as the freedom of numerous Oklahomans, depend on a commitment to resolve these problems.
Expungement is an inefficient and expensive way to make 780 retroactive
HB 1269 is one of the few bills this session that would have immediately lowered the number of Oklahomans in prison. The fact that this bill has failed means that Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis will not lessen before 2020.
The bill that almost made it into law this year was not perfect. Next session, lawmakers should revisit HB 1269’s use of expungements to erase the criminal records of those sentenced before simple drug possession became a misdemeanor.
The goal of this process is to help these individuals undo the harmful impacts of a felony, since a breadwinner with a felony record has greatly diminished job prospects. This is why providing a way for the more than 60,000 Oklahomans with simple drug possession felonies to clear their record is so important.
Unfortunately, the expungement process proposed in HB 1269 would have priced it out of reach for many individuals. The process requires numerous expensive steps and often the assistance of an attorney. Here is a breakdown of the basic financial costs associated with expungement:
- $500-$1,500 (avg. $150 an hour) consultation with an attorney
- $15 to get your OSBI Criminal History Report
- $150 OSBI fee to record the final court order.
- $175 (approximate) court filing fees and mailing fees
Graphic: Lindsay Myers, Communications Intern
At a bare minimum, it will cost more than $300 just to fill out the expungement paperwork created by HB 1269. This cost is in addition to any other fines and fees that individuals must pay before they are allowed to file for expungement.
These costs directly contradict the goals of the Governor and legislative leaders who stated that they wanted to reduce the impact of Oklahoma’s fines and fees. Instead, the expungement process of HB 1269 simply perpetuates a two-tiered justice system where those with the financial means to hire an attorney and pay these costs have better access to justice. Low-income Oklahomans, largely from rural communities and communities of color, will have great difficulty benefiting from this new system.
Lawmakers should fix this problem by waiving the expungement costs for anyone filing under the new provisions of HB 1269, or at the very least they should provide a hardship waiver for those deemed unable to pay. Justice reforms that can only be accessed by those with money are not a real break from the failed policies of the past.
The failure of HB 1269 leaves many issues unresolved
Nearly 1,000 Oklahomans would have been able to return to their families and communities earlier because of HB 1269. This would be a profound victory for justice reform in this state. However, the bureaucratic process of the bill would have left more than 60,000 Oklahomans outside prison with a costly and prohibitive expungement process. Legislators must address both of these issues.
In addition, a final retroactivity bill should address problems like sentence enhancements. Because of these “enhancements,” numerous Oklahomans are serving longer prison sentences than they would have served without a prior simple drug possession felony. Disparities like these only contribute to Oklahoma’s world-leading incarceration rate.
Oklahoma voters decided that prison is not a rational or cost-effective means of dealing with addiction, and lawmakers should respect this decision. The future of thousands of Oklahomans and millions of tax dollars depends on this. Lawmakers must address the issues left unresolved by the failure of this legislation if they hope to truly alter the direction of Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis.
The post SQ 780 retroactivity must be revisited to address Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis appeared first on Oklahoma Policy Institute.
http://bit.ly/2X9o8mp
from:
via Oklahoma Policy Institute
okpolicyinst
