News & Commentary
Ending Indefinite Solitary Confinement for the Vast Majority of People with Death Sentences in Oklahoma
By Travis Handler
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Share this event "Stories That Free Us!" The Alabama Solution Screening & Panel Discussion
JJI hosts The Alabama Solution Screening + panel connecting prison conditions in Alabama & Oklahoma and why reform matters nationwide.
Join the Julius Jones Institute for a powerful community screening of The Alabama Solution, an Oscar-nominated 2025 documentary that brings audiences inside the Alabama Department of Corrections, revealing severe conditions, unchecked violence, and systemic failures long hidden from public view through footage recorded by incarcerated people themselves.
This event is hosted in partnership with C.A.N, Diversion Hub, Foundation for Liberating Minds, ACLU of Oklahoma, LiveFree Oklahoma, Oklahoma Appleseed and Vote For Change.
Though the film centers on Alabama’s prison crisis, these systemic issues are urgent not only in Alabama, but also in Oklahoma and across the United States, where communities are impacted by mass incarceration, lack of accountability, and human rights concerns within our carceral system.
Following the screening, stay for a community panel moderated by Senator Nikki Nice, where leaders and advocates will discuss how the film’s insights connect to justice system challenges nationally and locally, and explore pathways toward reform, accountability, healing, and collective action.
Freedom Oklahoma and ACLU of Oklahoma Joint Statement in Response to SCOTUS Ruling Extending Marriage Equality Nationwide
June
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of Oklahoma Calls for Criminal Investigation & Resignation of Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz.
Apri
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of Oklahoma Hosts Annual Meeting with Keynote Address by Former Corrections Director and Selects University of Oklahoma Student Group, “Unheard” to Receive 2015 Angie Debo Civil Liberties Award
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of Oklahoma calls for an end to “Buy a Badge” programs in wake of Tulsa County volunteer deputy’s shooting of an unarmed man
April 13, 2015OKLAHOMA CITY – In the wake of newly released video showing Robert Bates, a wealthy donor to Tulsa Sheriff Stanley Glanz and volunteer reserve deputy, killing unarmed Eric Harris by shooting him in the back while Mr. Harris was being restrained on the ground, the ACLU of Oklahoma has issued the following statement calling for end to “buy a badge” practices that allow favored friends and wealthy donors to Oklahoma sheriffs to carry guns and badges as reserve deputies, often with far less training and experience than professional law enforcement officers.The following is attributable to Ryan Kiesel, ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director:Eric Harris is dead today as the result of an utterly reckless program that allows donors to buy a badge and play police officer with real guns and real bullets. Oklahomans deserve police departments that are staffed by professionals and who are financed with our tax dollars and held accountable to the public. If someone wants to volunteer to help their fellow citizens cross the street during special events like the State Fair, we have no objection, but to give volunteers weapons and put them in situations like the one that ended the life of Eric Harris is dangerous and foolish. The ACLU of Oklahoma is calling for an immediate end to the all “Buy a Badge” programs across Oklahoma, including the programs in Tulsa and Oklahoma Counties and insists that all law enforcement volunteers have greater limits imposed on their service.In addition to the disastrous results of the reckless Buy a Badge program, the video that recorded the arrest and shooting of Mr. Harris also exposed the callous and dehumanizing approach of at least one Tulsa County law enforcement officer. That officer responded to Mr. Harris’s inability to catch his breath after being shot in the back, by saying “Fuck your breath.” This officer’s response is disgusting and he has no business serving the people of Tulsa County. We call on the Tulsa County Sheriff’s office to discipline this officer and demonstrate this barbaric attitude will not be tolerated.The following is attributable to Brady Henderson, ACLU of Oklahoma Legal Director:Eric Harris is now dead and volunteer deputy Bob Bates charged with manslaughter. Both of these things never had to happen. The reckless killing committed by Reserve Deputy Bates was not just due to his own careless choice when handling a deadly weapon, but to the carelessness of the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office in placing Bates in an extremely dangerous situation for which clearly he was not prepared. While the charge of manslaughter against Mr. Bates provides some hope that justice will be served, what matters now is not just punishing this killing, but preventing the next one. To do that, Oklahoma sheriff’s departments need to rethink the dangerous “pay to play cop” practice that places friends and campaign donors into law enforcement roles that require the consistent professionalism and proficiency of properly trained professional officers.Law enforcement agencies throughout Oklahoma also need to reassess the costs and consequences of overuse of force on citizens. The video of Harris’s killing not only shows a manslaughter, it raises another question: When Harris was already being held on the ground and no longer fleeing deputies, why was it necessary to launch metal hooks carrying 50,000 volts into his body? If Bob Bates had reached for his taser instead of his gun, he might not have committed a manslaughter, but his use of force likely would not have been reasonable, rational, or legal. What happened to Eric Harris was not just “a mistake,” it was the result of a series of choices that show a reckless disregard for human dignity and human life.
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of Oklahoma and Freedom Oklahoma Issues Statement on Oklahoma Tax Commission’s Denial of Pro-LGBT Personalized License Plate
Marc
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of Oklahoma Statement in Response to the University of Oklahoma’s Announcement of VP of Diversity Position
Marc
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of Oklahoma Issues Statement on Expulsion of Students Involved in Disturbing and Racist Chant
Marc
By Bryan Newell
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