Why is the female incarceration rate growing
Oklahoma: A Case Study on the Female Incarceration Epidemic | Eric Cullen | TEDxUTulsa
there is no justice just us I could
still hear the voice of my mentor he
said if you want justice you must not
rely on the criminal justice system
because it's just a system it's up to us
to make a difference Oklahoma has been
number one in incarcerated women for 28
years straight so how do we get here
from 1925 until 1971 the u.s.
incarcerated approximately 200,000
people from 1971 to 2018 those numbers
skyrocketed to approximately 1.8 million
people it all started with the war on
drugs during the Nixon administration in
1971 Oklahoma legislators followed suit
drug laws and punishments increased and
then became severe the issue then turned
to what do we do
well it's bipartisan now the winds have
completely shifted and there are serious
efforts to combat the mass incarceration
epidemic in Oklahoma incarcerated
mothers with children there's four
thousand six hundred twenty four minor
children living with incarcerated
mothers amber Kirk is a 36 year old
mother of three minor children amber was
drug addicted and in an abusive
relationship which is very common for
women in Oklahoma the battle drugs amber
because of this racked up several felony
convictions in one year and wound up in
drug court although drug court is good
it is not always what is needed and
unfortunately amber racked up another
felony drug conviction this ended up
with it's very serious sentence of life
in prison life in prison
Robin Allen Robin is a grandmother and a
mother who is a longtime drug addict
Robin had a drug addiction problem and
she was a drug dealer the reason she
dealt drugs was to supply her addiction
and to assist her family in a time of
need her daughter her husband her
grandkids had all fell on hard times
they had to move in Robin none of them
had jobs Robin went to drug dealing
which again is another situation that
goes hand-in-hand drug dealing and drug
addiction in November of last year I
connected with music industry legend
Jason Flom Jason is best known for
producing music for the likes of Katy
Perry transplants Siberian Orchestra and
Kid Rock but what you may not know is
that jason has been passionately
fighting for criminal justice reform for
30 years when we got on the phone
Jason said what can we do to fix the
female incarceration epidemic in
Oklahoma how can we help these women I
told him that I had found in a project
called another chance justice project
another chance is an investigative
nonprofit that assists female nonviolent
offenders with her upcoming parole and
commutation hearings by getting their
family's support
by writing our own letters to the board
the partner all board in more
importantly finding resources for these
women such as transitional homes upon
their release jason was very impressed
he was all in and pledged his support
immediately and then in his most New
York of New York accents this born in
new this born and raised New Yorker said
I have never wanted to come to Oklahoma
ever but I will if you show me serious
results in the next year since July
another chance has assisted 63 women and
gaining their freedom in 2017 Oklahoma
granted seventeen commutations in 2018
one hundred five two of these results
we've already discussed
amber kirk her commutation was granted
in December and she was home by
Christmas with her family as you see
here in this picture behind me she has
two jobs and while uniting with her
family continues to work on her sobriety
Robin Allen she was granted her
commutation February 13th and is
awaiting governor CID signature for her
release that's Robin behind me with her
daughter and her mother Robin also plans
on getting a job reuniting with her
family and continuing to work on her
sobriety before another chance was
formed there were almost no resources
for these two women and women like them
I named this project another chance
justice project because we believe in
another chance not just a second chance
thank you
