OKLAHOMA CITY - In response to tonight’s results of State Question 805, leaving repeat sentence penalties in place, the ACLU of Oklahoma issued the following statement:
The following is attributable to Nicole McAfee, Director of Policy and Advocacy:
“The ACLU of Oklahoma thanks the volunteers, advocates, and supporters from around the state for the work done with State Question 805. Oklahoma faces a mass incarceration crisis - one that requires tackling issues at every level and each stage of our criminal legal system. No one policy will fix what causes us to incarcerate women, Black people, and all of our citizens at a rate that outpaces most any other place in the world. While tonight’s results were not ultimately the outcome we had worked toward, we know there is much to celebrate. What we built this Election cycle was a movement - a movement that faced obstacles at every turn and used those as an opportunity to innovate and engage in deep, meaningful conversation with the electorate about how we enact data driven solutions to combat failed tough-on-crime policies. As we quickly approach the 58th Legislative Session, we hope our elected officials are paying attention. The defeat of State Question 805 was based on a campaign of fear and misinformation, and still hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans grappled with how urgently we must change our criminal legal system. If we hope to one day shed our mantle of the world’s leading incarcerator, we must reimagine public safety rooted in disrupting cycles of crime and helping people. State Question 805 marks a new chapter in Oklahoma’s long fight for a criminal legal system that is grounded in justice, not punishment. We are proud to have been a part of that work, and we will continue this fight tomorrow and each day after.”