The Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association has released a scorching rebuke of a bill that would let judges sentence juveniles to life in prison without a chance for parole. Oklahoma law otherwise allows juries to determine sentences within limits set by law. Different sentencing procedures would deny those juveniles equal protection of the law as

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s reform-minded approach to criminal prosecution has prosecutors nationwide on notice that the nation might be ready for a new direction in to criminal justice.

The City of Tulsa ended a funding dispute with the county sherrif by opening a city jail. When the city jail exceeds capacity. the city now sends excess inmates 40 miles away, to a frequently overcrowded jail in Okmulgee County.

A bill in the 2018 Oklahoma legislature would let voters decide whether the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals should be abolished. Among 50 states, only Oklahoma and Texas have separate appeals courts for criminal and civil matters. Defense attorneys say the split has resulted in a prosecution friendly appeals court that is sometimes blithe indifference to its own precedents.

A proposal to let voters decide the future of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals might face an uphill battle in the legislature. Oklahoma lawmakers have had a chilly relationship with the Oklahoma’s other appeals court, which could take on the work of the criminal appeals court if voters approved the measure.

Until recently, nearly every police agency in the nation relied on an interrogation practice called the “Reid Method.” This harsh method aims to squeeze confessions from suspects through stress, fatigue, intimidation and sympathy. A recent research paper by a University of Virginia Law student suggests the Reid Method is highly likely to elicit false confessions.