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The drug offense (and drug court) part of the story of women in Oklahoma's prisons

By Douglas A. Berman

As noted in this prior post, a collection of news outlets have come together in Oklahoma to assemble extensive coverage of "Women in Prison" in that state (all of which can be found at this multi-media webpage.)  The latest group of pieces zeroes in on drug offenses, starting with this lead piece headlined "Half of women in prison there for drugs."  Here are excerpts: Drug-related offenses account for about 12 percent of arrests among females in Oklahoma, and about 50 percent of women in prison are there on drug-related convictions, according to federal and state crime data. The average sentence in the state for women in drug-related convictions is 5.5 years, according to a Tulsa World analysis of prison sentences since 2000.  Drug court participation in Oklahoma has increased from about 1,500 in 2005 to about 4,200 currently, as more counties add programs...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 13, 2011 (boomark / email).