Oklahoma is still number one in the rate of incarcerating women, and a Tulsa panel wants to do something about it. In a report to Mayor Bartlett, members of the Commission on the Status of Women say the high rate of incarceration of females will be their focus in 2015. Oklahoma puts 127 women per 100-thousand population in prison, almost double the national rate. Women’s Commission Communications Chair Becky Dixon says sentencing guidelines in Oklahoma are too strict.
Two-thirds of women are in prison for non-violent crimes, and Dixon says the guidelines do not distinguish between the severity of the crime.