April 15, 2019 Issue, Page 4 of 10

Page Text

Serving Western Oklahoma Since 1901 Francine’s Law awaits signature ‘Muskogee Phoenix, Okla. House Bill 2640 was passed unanimously in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Senate, and is on its way to the governor’s desk for his signature. We hope the gover- nor will sign the legislation, also known as Francine’s Law, which will help solve missing persons and cold cases. The law would require law enforcers statewide to enter information on missing persons into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) within 30 days. If the person missing is under age 18 or is missing under suspicious circumstances, it will be mandatory to enter the information immediately. Francine’s Law is named for a Tulsa woman who was abducted from a grocery store parking lot in February 1981. Even though her body had been found in Muskogee County in 1983, her case remained unsolved until 2014, when Frost’s grandson found a description matching Frost on the NamUs. Through DNA testing in 2014, it was later deter- Justice reform mined the body found was Frost. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said Francine’s Law is a critical component to solving cases like Frost’s. “Cases that are cold or involve missing people are some of the most difficult to solve. That is why we must give our Jaw enforcement partners every resource available to assist gains needed them,” Hunter said. ‘We would encourage the governor to sign off on Fran- cine’s Law, which would help law enforcement officers, and it will help families like Frost’s who just want to know what happened to their loved one. Horn making her The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City House Bill 1269 by Echols and Rep. Jason Dunnington, next decade -- from roughly 27,000 today to about 31,000. arecent poll of registered voters in four legislative Approval of all the OCJR way in Congress D-Oklahoma City. The bill Early in the second half of would make retroactive the bills, the organization says, districts (House District 39, the 2019 legislative session, reforms included in State would cause the inmate popu- and Senate districts 29, 41 additional criminal justice Question 780, approved by lation to fall below today’s and 47), a clear majority said The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City reform -- something touted voters in 2016. The state level by 2028. the state has too many people by members on both sides of question reclassified certain At the outset ofthe session, locked up and they approved Coverage ofthe freshman class of the U.S. House of Rep- the aisle -- remains a work low-level drug and property Senate Republicans made resentatives has focused largely on three members -- Rep. in progress. Here’s hoping crimes as misdemeanors in- criminal justice reform one of making SQ 780 retroactive. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York for her progressive the lack ofsignificant move- stead of felonies; making SQ of their four priorities. Senate The poll was commissioned wish list, and Reps. Ihan Omar of Michigan and Rashid ment thus far doesn’t produce 780 retroactive would affect leader Greg Treat, R-Oklaho- by Right on Crime, a conser- Tlaib of Minnesota for some of their comments about Jews minimal results later. about 1,050 inmates. ma City, noted in an op-ed in and the president. In remarks last week, Lawmakers showed an The Oklahoman that helping vative reform group. Rep. Kendra Horn wouldn't mind if some attention were House Majority Leader Jon appetite for reform last year offenders before they wind Officials with OCJR say paid elsewhere. Echols said the Legislature by approving a slate of bills up behind bars “keeps more they're concerned about what During a recent meeting with The Oklahoman, Horn, has at least 30 bills dealing designed to slow the rate of families together, keeps more sorts of policy proposals will who represents Oklahoma's Sth Congressional District, said with criminal justice reform, growth in the prison sys- ids out of foster care and freshmen Democrats are "a lot more moderate as a group, and that he and others want tem. Hoping to build on that keeps more of our citizens as emerge from a working group wejust don't get the coverage that certain people do ... we more than simply sentencing momentum, a group called taxpaying members of soci- that’s been meeting on this is- dont make quite the splash." reform. Also needed, he said, Oklahomans for Criminal ety.” House Minority Leader sue. John Estus, OCJR’s chief Hor didn't name names but didn't have to. Ocasio-Cortez is a focus on rehabilitation Justice Reform proposed 14 Emily Virgin, D-Norman, of staff, says the worry is that has dominated the media airwaves since upsetting a 10- and treatment. more reforms for this year, said as the session began term Democratic incumbent in the primary, and has used All three are needed if all of which apply to those in that there were moral and “the package ... doesn’t move the attention to push her democratic socialist agenda that Oklahoma is to relinquish its prison for crimes categorized financial reasons to lower the the needle.” includes the "Green New Deal." hold as the state that incar- as nonviolent. incarceration rate. New Gov. We hope those worries are Meanwhile, Horn says, her colleagues are “just rolling up cerates more people, per OCJR says that without ad- Kevin Stitt has advocated for our sleeves and saying, ‘What do we need to do?’ I think that capita, than any other state. ditional reforms, Oklahoma’s justice reforms. for naught, Oklahoma must opens a lot of potential to get things done.” Asentencing-related bill prison population is expected Oklahomans support continue moving forward in Those newcomers who were elected in November, she that’s gotten attention is to grow by 14 percent in the additional reform, too. In this critical area. says, 'ran because they cared about their communities. It's a group ofreally good people" who have been "working to develop those relationships across the aisle. You have to work at it, but I think it's important, to the delegation but also more broadly." Hom pulled off one ofthe bigger upsets of the 2018 election cycle by defeating Republican incumbent Steve Russell, becoming the first Democrat in more than 40 years to win the Sth District seat. She is the lone Democrat in Combating food waste a laudable goal Oklahoma's five-person House delegation. Horn says her reception by the rest of the delegation has "been great," and not a surprise. "We might not always agree on policy issues, but we're going to work together," she said. During her brief time in Washington, Horn has sided with her party on most of its priorities, including voting for Muskogee Phoenix, Okla. Agriculture, Environmental there is a lack of clarity about -- will have to be scrutinized Nancy Pelosi as speaker and for a broad election and ethics Protection Agency and Food what those dates on the labels to ensure consumer safety reform bill filled with changes long sought by Democrats. Americans discard more and Drug Administration mean and an understandable remains atop priority rather She also has voted with Republicans on a handful ofvotes, than 75 billion tons of food an- announced on Tuesday how concern about foodborne ill- most of them procedural, but is among a group of 5s Demo- nually, and one-third of all the the agencies intend to carry nesses, than industry profits. There crats being targeted in 2020 by the National Republican food available in this country out an initiative rolled out late ‘The strategy also will are issues like the food indus- Congressional Committee. never will be eaten. last year. The initiative seeks include inter-agency coopera- try’s preference for secrecy She says the top item on her to-do list has been to be ac- Those are just two reasons to educate Americans about tion toward the development with regard to identifying cessible to her constituents and provide the best services to support efforts to combat the consequences of food of public-private partner- crops and other foods derived possible. food waste and loss in the waste if left unaddressed. ships, tool development, “Itell my staff all the time, I wasn't elected to serve only United States. And three Key to the inter-agency technical assistance at food from genetically modified the people who voted for me," she said, Similarly, she says, federal agencies unveiled strategy is an agreement to production and processing organisms that cannot be she wasn't elected "to represent an end ofthe political spec- an inter-agency strategy coordinate education and stages. And the agreement tolerated for any reason. trum." designed to address this wide- outreach activities for such addresses the importance of But the objective of redue- “Lintend to keep looking at every single issue that comes spread problem, which poses things as date labeling on inter-agency policy discus- ing food waste and loss is one up -- is this good policy, No. 1? Is it good for Oklahoma and threats at many levels across food packages and research. sions about this topic. is it good for the nation? Those have to be at the top of the this country. A lot of food winds up in Of course, some of the worth pursuing. Developing a list in how we make those decisions.” The U.S. Departments of municipal landfills because objectives -- like food labeling strategy is a good, first step.