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RE: Our Homeless Experience 7: The Homeless Shelter, Part 2

in #homelessexperience7 years ago (edited)

In Oklahoma, a woman can be can charged with "Failure to Protect," if her partner beats her up in front of her children. In fact, last year a woman was choked by her boyfriend, and rendered unconscious. CPS charged her with FTP, and the woman went to prison.

That's hard to believe. Do you have sources?

Well, I've heard of ladies having miscarriages and getting sent for decades in prison in jurisdictions where abortion is illegal.

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It is hard to believe. Sadly, it is true.

Here is the law: http://www.oklegislature.gov/cf_pdf/2011-12%20INT/sb/sb1426%20int.pdf

The article to which I previously referred, regarding the woman who was left unconscious, that story was in the Daily Oklahoman, I still have a hard copy. Tracking it down online should be easy, but honestly, I don't have the heart to do so right now. However, here is an excerpt from an article regarding a high-profile case, in which a similar thing occurred:

'Failure to Protect' Laws Punish Victims of Domestic Violence. ... In Oklahoma, a state with some of the highest child abuse rates in the nation, enabling child abuse is a felony that carries the same penalties as active child abuse.

In 2006, Robert Braxton, Jr., pled guilty to abusing his girlfriend’s three-month-old daughter by breaking her ribs and femur. He was sentenced to two years in prison. The infant’s mother, Tondalo Hall, was found guilty of failing to protect her daughter and given a sentence of 30 years in prison. Even though there was no evidence that Hall ever hurt her daughter, and even though there was significant evidence that Hall was abused by Braxton and feared him, her sentence was 15 times greater than his.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-banner/do-failure-to-protect-law_b_6237346.html

Here is an article explaining why Oklahoma's female incarceration rate is so high. While gather sources for you, of which there are many, I ran across another report, from the state of Oklahoma itself stating that the incarceration rate has been surpassed by another state, with Oklahoma now ranking as the #2 state with the largest female prisoner population. I would consider the source when looking at Oklahoma's own numbers.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-10-03/why-oklahomas-female-incarceration-rate-so-high

https://moneyish.com/ish/the-state-locks-up-more-women-than-anywhere-else-in-america/

There are many advocacy groups here who have attempted to combat the ever-increasing problem, but they are waging an uphill battle. The state consistently receives an "F" grade from the Center for Public Integrity, corruption is rampant here.

It goes on and on. A great source, with many available public documents can be found at:

http://www.oklahomawatch.org