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Former prison inmates are shedding the stigma and running for public office

Former prison inmates are shedding the stigma and running for public office

Tarra Simmons could hardly believe how far she’d come. The same prosecutor’s office in Kitsap County, Washington that once convicted her of drug offenses and sent her to prison had just endorsed her candidacy for the state legislature. In November, she will be a contender for Washington’s district 23 - a far cry from the prison yard at Mission Creek Correctional where she served a 30 month sentence.

McGirt V. Oklahoma: US Supreme Court decision leaves many questions unanswered

McGirt V. Oklahoma: US Supreme Court decision leaves many questions unanswered

The US Supreme Court handed down a major decision yesterday in McGirt v. Oklahoma that could fundamentally alter the criminal justice system in eastern Oklahoma. The case is based on a question of jurisdiction: Did the State of Oklahoma have the right to prosecute a major crime committed by a tribal member if the crime was committed on a reservation? To decide, justices had to determine if the area was still legally a reservation of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Oklahoma’s Incarceration Rate is Now the Highest in the World

Oklahoma’s Incarceration Rate is Now the Highest in the World

When I worked as a prosecutor, my approach for non-violent defendants was rehabilitation, not incarceration. Incarceration does not rehabilitate a person who has a drug problem and once a person who is incarcerated for a drug-related/induced offense is released from prison, they don’t have the tools necessary to get meaningful employment or reintegrate into society.