DALLAS - In a state with the nation's highest incarceration rate, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin is calling on the state legislature to reduce the number of inmates through drug treatment and mental health programs.
"Anyone who is a threat to those around them must be locked up, and violent criminals must be in prison," Fallin said in her inaugural address Jan. 12.
"But here's the sad truth," she said. "Many of our inmates are non-violent offenders with drug abuse and alcohol problems. They don't need to spend long stints at the state penitentiary, where they can join gangs and acquire criminal networks."
In an effort to redirect the "soft on crime" epithet that comes with attempts to reform mandatory prison sentences, Fallin called her plan "smart on crime" and essentially conservative.
"There is a smarter way to help someone who is addicted to prescription pain pills than to have them sit in a jail cell with little or no access to treatment," Fallin said. "And for those who suffer from mental illness, we need to offer help and counseling to get them healthy and to divert them from our prison system."
When the legislature convenes Feb. 4, Fallin said she would be committed to working with our legislators to "redouble our efforts to pursue smart-on-crime solutions."
Fallin, who has become controversial for supporting executions of death-row inmates using untested chemicals, is not new to the issue of over-incarceration in Oklahoma.
The Republican governor signed the Justice Reinvestment Initiative into law in 2012, allowing people convicted of a nonviolent felony to be sent to a drug court or mental health court, when appropriate, instead of to prison. The courts require lengthy and closely monitored treatment plans. Among other things, the initiative also calls for better monitoring of offenders once they are released from prison.
While reducing incarceration rates will lower Oklahoma's costs over the long run, changes will require upfront costs in a year when revenues are expected to fall by about $300 million.
According to the National Institute of Corrections, Oklahoma's incarceration rate is about 67% higher than the national average of adults per 100,000.
The length of Oklahoma prison terms has risen 83% in the past 19 years, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report.
