Oklahoma made history on Monday with the release of nearly 500 persons from prison, 70 of which were women. The release is one step. Here's the next: Oklahoma churches and communities have an unprecedented opportunity to welcome those people home. Will you seize it? Oklahoma has had the unholy distinction of incarcerating more of their citizens than nearly any other state, and the highest proportion of women. The state has been working on changing that, and Monday's commutation is one step in that larger effort. The 462 persons released that day were doing time for drug possession or other … [Read more...] about Yes, Oklahoma, but will you welcome them?
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Yes, but will we welcome them
Many of us have hailed the news, over past months, that President Obama has commuted the sentences of hundreds of federal prisoners, most of them incarcerated with draconian sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. President Obama has granted clemency at a rate far in excess of other recent presidents. This reflects, it seems, a growing bipartisan recognition that mandatory minimum sentences have not served us well. Great news, we might say. But will we welcome them? In other news, we are beginning to see the release of juvenile offenders whose mandatory life sentences were declared … [Read more...] about Yes, but will we welcome them