Right on Crime launches Oklahoma effort with Blue Room conference

CapitolBeatOK Staff Report

Published 15-Mar-2011

 
Right on Crime – a nationwide campaign to promote criminal justice reforms – today launched an Oklahoma-focused initiative with the support of state Speaker of the House Kris Steele. With the group stating its members are “guided by the conservative principles of fiscal responsibility, limited government, and accountability,” Right on Crime aims to empower state lawmakers to make critical policy changes, which will decrease costs and reduce crime.
 
“Right on Crime’s policy suggestions can help Oklahoma curb our state spending and incarceration rates,” said Speaker Steele. “Oklahoma has the highest women’s incarceration rate in the country. It costs approximately $40 to imprison a woman for one day or keep her on probation or parole for 13 days. If we refocus our efforts on reforms, like limiting the governor’s role in the parole process for nonviolent offenders and enhancing community sentencing programs, we will drastically cut costs, crime, and incarceration.”
 
Today’s press conference featured remarks by Speaker Steele, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs’ Michael Carnuccio, and Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Marc Levin.
 
Right on Crime has the support of more than two dozen notable conservatives, including former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Attorney General Ed Meese, and former “Drug Czar” Bill Bennett. Based on a series of successful reforms in Texas, this conservative initiative advocates for victim restoration, performance-based evaluations of corrections measures, and alternate sentencing for low-risk, nonviolent offenders.
 
“At present, we have a system that grows when it fails,” said Marc Levin of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “Instead of pouring more money into the current corrections system, we need to restructure it to make sure taxpayers are getting the most for their money. States can save millions by increasing rehabilitation programs, which are often more effective than incarceration. Texas, for instance, saved $137 million dollars while decreasing crime by 8 percent.”
 
For more information on Right on Crime, visit www.rightoncrime.com or view the campaign’s Statement of Principles at www.rightoncrime.com/statement-of-principles.
 
Texas was among the handful of states highlighted at the recent conference on Effective Criminal Justice Strategies in Oklahoma City. That seminar was covered in a series of stories on CapitolBeatOK.
 
About Right on Crime: Right on Crime provides conservative principled solutions that are proven to reduce crime, lower costs and restore victims. Right on Crime is a national initiative led by the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, one of the nation’s leading state-based conservative think tanks.
 
The initiative aims to raise awareness and grow support for effective criminal justice reforms within the conservative movement. This project will share research and policy ideas, mobilize conservative leaders, and work to raise public awareness. For more information, please visit www.rightoncrime.com.