Issue Position: Criminal Justice Reform

Issue Position

Meloyde believes that we need to take a serious look at our criminal justice system because of its significant cost and ineffectiveness at reducing crime. Our prisons are dangerously overcrowded, understaffed and underfunded. Oklahoma is spending an incredible amount of money warehousing non-violent offenders for long periods of time only to further expose them to a more dangerous criminal population then release them with little or no skills to be productive. Oklahoma also incarcerates more women than anywhere else in the world, and Meloyde finds this unacceptable. She believes that excessive fees, job-restrictions, and other barriers to re-entry keep ex-offenders from reaching their full potential and contributing to our economy. It costs less to educate a child than to jail them and we all benefit when our state makes proactive investments, such as youth services and alternative schools.

She believes until changes across the board are made to replace long incarceration with drug treatment and community sentencing, Oklahoma's criminal justice system will remain costly to taxpayers, ineffective at reducing crime, and destructive to many Oklahoma families. The bipartisan, national momentum for reform of mandatory minimums offers a good opportunity for progress in Oklahoma.

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