OKJ2 - Oklahoma Journalists for Justice

08/22/2021

This new 30-minute documentary about people coming out of prison is well worth a watch. It features an OKC inmate.

Every year 600,000 men and women return to our communities from incarceration. 95% of prisoners will one day come home. As a result of their criminal record,...

09/25/2020

District Judge Sharon Holmes determined that Corey Atchison was actually innocent of a first-degree murder charge related to the Aug. 3, 1990, shooting death of James Lane.

09/25/2020

Please vote YES on State Question 805 on Nov. 3 in Oklahoma.

05/11/2019

Three weeks before legislators are planning to wrap up the legislative session, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced his criminal justice priorities for this year. While Stitt’s support for criminal justice reform

03/12/2019

You won't want to miss this!

Tom Gillert, the recent chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, will speak Saturday afternoon at the OK CURE meeting. If you've ever wanted to know more about how the board operates and how members make life-altering decisions about inmates' sentences or what chances inmates have of ever getting released early, this is your chance to find out.

Gillert worked as an assistant district attorney in Tulsa County before serving 20 years (1994-2004) as a district judge. He was appointed to the Pardon and Parole Board by the Court of Criminal Appeals and in 2015 reappointed to the board by Gov. Mary Fallin. He stepped down in January.

The OK CURE meeting will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at the Hardesty Regional Library, 8316 E. 93rd St. (Memorial Drive and the Creek Turnpike) in Tulsa. The meeting will be live-streamed on Facebook, and we will make a special effort to field online questions.

Gillert will speak and answer questions between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Please don't ask about individual inmates' specific cases. Questions should revolve around how the board and its members make decisions.

03/03/2019

It’s unbelievable how a crooked cop could get so many people wrongfully convicted. This stuff really happens when you are poor and can not afford good legal representation. Shameful.

A Cook County judge Monday morning overturned the drug convictions of 10 men who joined a growing list of people who in recent years have have been exonerated after being framed by disgraced Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts.

03/03/2019

02/26/2019

More great news on criminal justice reform in Oklahoma!

- Gov. Kevin Stitt announced three appointments to the state’s Pardon and Parole Board on Tuesday that he said will bring a “fresh perspective” to a board from which he wants more inmate applications.The governor’s office announced the appointment of Kelly E. Doyle, Adam Luck and Robert Gill...

02/26/2019

Great to see some progress being made on criminal justice reform in Oklahoma. We have a L-O-N-G way to go, but at least it's a start..

Only 1 in 3 inmates eligible for parole apply due to increase cost of restrictions.Related: What it's like to go from life without parole to being free: One woman's story

01/14/2019

It’s beyond disturbing that Rodney Fisher remains incarcerated for purse snatchings that occurred over 25 years ago. His story can be viewed at OKJ2.org. Here is the 2017 filing by the Oklahoma Innocence Project for post-conviction relief that still has not received s response.

What is OKJ2? Imagine that in the next few minutes you receive a knock on your door, a phone call or email and a stranger accuses you of a crime. You know immediately the information is false, but you reel at the mere insinuation of wrongdoing on your part. What begins as an unnerving conversation r...

06/22/2017

Well done story about a huge problem: the children of mothers in prison.

No agency in the criminal justice system is responsible for the safety of children whose mothers go to jail, an investigation by The Dallas Morning News has found.