News & Commentary

News stories coming out of several Oklahoma county jails are just a snapshot of the issues we know take place within our criminal justice system. The ACLU applauds Nowata County Sheriff Terry Sue Barnett’s refusal to reopen Nowata County Jail amid condition concerns for staff and detained people.

The ACLU of Oklahoma’s Campaign for Smart Justice released key findings of a survey completed by EMC Research of likely voters in 2020 that demonstrates support for criminal justice reform remains high across the state, no matter political affiliation.

The McCraw case is about protecting the freedom of speech for Oklahomans. In reaction to complaints about the visibility of panhandlers in Oklahoma City, the City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting virtually all activity on medians. It is an affront to free speech rights.

Mothers in jail are being torn from their families and losing contact with their children even before they have been convicted of a crime.

The ACLU of Oklahoma issued today a letter to Tom Bates, Interim Commissioner for the Department of Health, notifying the Department of serious concerns with the emergency rules and Constitutional violations within those rules. The ACLU joins in the concerns expressed by the Attorney General.

For more than 50 years, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has worked in the courts, the legislature, and through public education to protect individuals’ civil rights and liberties. As part of our organization’s nationwide effort to cut the nation’s prison population in half while combating racial disparities in the criminal justice system, the ACLU of Oklahoma is launching a public education campaign around prosecutorial discretion. Our goal is to educate voters, including members of the ACLU of Oklahoma and those directly impacted by incarceration, about the role the district attorneys play in mass incarceration.

The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma (ACLU of OK) today announced the filing of a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a Tulsa Muslim woman refused entry to the Tulsa County Courthouse because of her hijab, or religious head covering. The lawsuit alleges that the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office violated Suha Elqutt’s rights under the First Amendment and under Oklahoma’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

We are disappointed, though frankly unsurprised, that the Governor chose today to continue the Legislature’s game of using children and LGBT Oklahomans as pawns in cruel political games. SB 1140 is discriminatory, anti-family, anti-children, and anti-First Amendment. Rather than stand up...