Articles written by Keaton Ross
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Inmates, corrections staff express reluctance to take the Covid-19 vaccine
Oklahoma inmates are experiencing their own version of pandemic fatigue. The corrections department has limited inmate movement and enforced a mask mandate for staff and prisoners since April. A syste... Full story
As Covid-19 spreads in state prisons, inmate families protest poor conditions
An upset prison guard walked into Stephanie Avery's housing unit. Avery, a former Mabel Bassett Correctional Center inmate, says the officer pulled her mask below the chin, approached a group of... Full story
How the Biden administration could influence criminal justice in Oklahoma
Three weeks before he was named the Democratic nominee for president, Joe Biden released a comprehensive criminal justice reform plan. The President-elect proposes abolishing the federal death...
Oklahoma prison coronavirus outbreak
Two weeks into his stay in Lexington A&R, a guard approached Robert Lavern's cell door and told him to gather his belongings. Lavern was accustomed to moving. Over the course of four weeks, he...
Why Oklahomans rejected the criminal justice reform 805 offered
A wide swath of urban and rural voters rejected State Question 805, bringing a yearlong campaign by criminal justice reform advocates to modify Oklahoma’s sentencing laws to an undramatic end. All 77 counties opposed the ballot initiative, which...
A guide to State Question 805 and its potential impact on Oklahoma criminal justice
As the Nov. 3 general election date draws near, public confusion regarding State Question 805—a ballot initiative which would amend the Oklahoma Constitution and end the use of sentence enhancements against some repeat offenders—remains high. In...
Inmates fear retribution from state plan to block contraband phones
It was the kind of weekend inmates, guards and their loved ones fear. A series of coordinated gang fights broke out across six Oklahoma men’s prisons last Sept. 14 and 15. Several corrections guards were injured, 36 inmates were hospitalized and on...
COVID-19 in state prisons: 'It's supposed to be a work camp, not a death camp'
When Antonio Lucio arrived at the Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center in Vinita last month, he saw an environment where the coronavirus could spread quickly. Lucio, who is serving a seven-year sentence for drug possession with intent to...
'Sued every way and Sunday.' New prison phone provider has troubled history
Inmates in Oklahoma state prisons will soon connect to the outside world through Securus Technologies, a Texas-based prison communications company that has paid out millions over the past four years to settle claims that it illegally recorded phone c...
Oklahoma's prison population is dropping amid the pandemic. Will the trend continue?
As reform efforts take shape and the coronavirus pandemic causes delays within the criminal justice system, Oklahoma's prison population has steadily declined since early March. The number of inmates...
Oklahoma's prison population is dropping amid the pandemic. Will the trend continue?
As reform efforts take shape and the coronavirus pandemic causes delays within the criminal justice system, Oklahoma's prison population has steadily declined since early March. The number of inmates...
Legislature is disproportionately white. These candidates are trying to change that
Every seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and half of the state Senate is up for election in November. Of the 187 remaining candidates, just eight are Black and three are Hispanic, according to an Oklahoma Watch review of June 30 primary...
What you need to know about voting in the primary election
Oklahomans will soon vote in the first major election since the COVID-19 pandemic surged to a level that locked down much of the state. The disruption has left many voters with questions about the voting process itself, in addition to basic...
What you need to know about voting in the primary election
Oklahomans will soon vote in the first major election since the COVID-19 pandemic surged to a level that locked down much of the state. The disruption has left many voters with questions about the voting process itself, in addition to basic... Full story
