Nonprofit Legal Rights Group Works To Reduce Domestic Violence Cases In Oklahoma

Oklahoma currently ranks number one in the nation for domestic violence. But a nonprofit, legal rights group is working to change that.

Executive Director of OK Appleseed, Colleen McCarty, joins us with more about its mission to help survivors.

Update: SB 1470, also known as the Oklahoma Survivorship Act, passed 45-0 in the Senate today. Now, the bill is on its way to the House.

CLICK HERE to learn more about OK Appleseed Center for Law and Justice in Tulsa.

What is OK Appleseed's mission?

"Oklahoma Appleseed is a member of a national legal public interest law network called the Appleseed network. And there are 17 other centers. We're the newest center in the network and we work on all kinds of issues. We work at the legislature. We work in the courtrooms and we work in the streets, community organizing for a lot of issues that we can help Oklahoma improve on," McCarty said.

What kind of pro bono work do you do?

"So the pro bono hours go towards all kinds of different issues. One of our issues here in Oklahoma is domestic violence. We work with survivors of domestic violence who might not look like the traditional victim like how you think they would, because a lot of my clients are in prison. We've heard from over 150 survivors in prison who are serving sentences that may or may not be a result of their domestic abuse. And so those can look all kinds of different ways. But we've been talking to them for over two years about how we might be able to help them get shorter sentences," McCarty explained.

What is the Oklahoma Survivors Act or Senate Bill 1470?

"It is a sentencing reform that would allow survivors of domestic violence to enter the evidence of their abuse at a sentencing hearing after they've already been found guilty. And if they can prove that they were the victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, then they can be entered in for shorter sentencing range," McCarty said.

What are your goals as you move forward?

"Oh, gosh, there's so many things. We work on criminal justice reform, youth justice reform and education justice reform. Also, we work on elections. So trying to make sure everybody has access to the ballot. Everybody who is able to vote is getting to the ballot and able to exercise their rights in the democracy," McCarty said.