After an historic vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, almost 500
inmates are going to be walking out of prison early after having their sentences
for low-level, non-violent crimes commuted. Oklahoma is certainly not a
liberal bastion, but this largest one-day prisoner release in U.S. history came
about after Oklahoma voters approved SQ780, making simple drug possession
a misdemeanor and allowing those inmates who were already serving felony
sentences for such crimes an opportunity to have their sentences commuted.
The mass release would be the largest since President Obama’s last act in office
– where he commuted the sentences of 330 federal prisoners.
This is an issue that should matter to Floridians because we have the third
largest prison population in the United States, according to the Office of
Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). Forty
percent, almost half of Florida’s prison population, are incarcerated for nonviolent
crimes. Fifty percent of those offenders are in prison due to drug crimes.
This is at a time when there is widespread, bipartisan agreement that mass
incarceration is a problem in our country. We have about 5 percent of the
world’s population but 20 percent of the world’s prisoners, the highest
incarceration rate on earth. (CBSNEWS.COM, April 23, 2012). Aside from the
human toll this epidemic takes on the families of those incarcerated, the cost
of incarcerations was estimated to cost US taxpayers $63.4 billion per year in
2010.
In Oklahoma, the state is expected to save $11.9 million in average prison costs
once the inmates are released, according to KFOR.COM. On a
national average, assuming an average cost of $31,000 per inmate, the country
could save $9.3 billion every year by releasing non-violent drug offenders, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. That amount doesn’t even include the price of
investigating and arresting these people to begin with. Oklahoma estimates that
it would have cost the state $12 million to have the inmates serve their full
sentences. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said via Twitter that his goal is about “changing the culture and process as we prepare to release individuals and to help set them up for success upon reentry into society.”
The legislation’s goal, he tweeted, was “to help nonviolent, low-level offenders and to bring their sentencing time in line with today’s laws.”
Released offenders had access to Department of Corrections’ events aimed at helping them line up jobs, housing, and counseling, as well as aiding them in receiving their driver licenses or IDs. All of that, plus reuniting families, and a savings of almost $12 million per year? That’s more than OK.
