A new poll shows Oklahomans want to see more criminal justice reforms in the state that lead to fewer people in prison.
A poll commissioned by policy group FWD.us finds four out of five registered voters think it’s important to reduce the number of people in prison. Voters also prefer by an eight-to-one margin that additional funding to reduce crime be spent on education.
"The voters of Oklahoma are really ready for change. They understand this is a problem, and they want to see some serious reform happening soon," said FWD.us Director of Research and Policy for Criminal Justice Reform Felicity Rose.
The state spent more than $500 million on its prison system last year, and the Department of Corrections said last month at least a $1 billion increase is needed to keep up with inmate population growth.
Voters' interest in continuing criminal justice reform could be a factor in who wins on Election Day. Rose said 52 percent of voters are more likely to support candidates who want to reform Oklahoma’s criminal justice system, while 3 percent are less likely to vote for those candidates.
"That’s a really huge margin, and we saw that playing out in the gubernatorial race, where both candidates have been really strong on this issue and really pointed to the need for reform," Rose said.
Regardless of party affiliation, majorities of voters supported actions like ending pre-trial detention for non-violent crimes and applying sentence enhancements for habitual offenders only to violent crimes.
Most Oklahoma voters also want people in prison for drug possession resentenced, according to the poll. Overall, 76 percent of voters want people convicted of drug possession prior to State Question 780 resentenced. That’s higher than the proportion of voters who reclassified simple drug possession as a misdemeanor in 2016.
"The voters of Oklahoma are saying that they have stated what they think is the right way for the state to go, and they want legislators and their elected officials to get behind that and expand that," Rose said.
By party affiliation, 73 percent of independents, 74 percent of Republicans and 80 percent of Democrats favor resentencing people convicted of drug possession before 2017.
