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The Oklahoma Survivors’ Act merely provides an alternative to conviction

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The trauma that survivors in Oklahoma are experiencing is real, it is not feigned. It’s documented. And it should be considered by courts to overcome Oklahoma’s draconian penalties.

Jan Perry, Dr. Kathy LaFortune, Angela Beatty, Tracey Lyall, Joy Hadwiger and Dr. Jeanne Russell
| Guest columnists

A system that persecutes women who defend themselves against violence is the true perversion of justice – and not the reform that seeks to help them. – Jan Perry, CEO, YWCA, Oklahoma City

In a recent article in The Oklahoman, Dr. Shawn Roberson calls the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act a “perversion of justice.”

The truth is that Oklahoma’s current legal system is the real perversion of justice.

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Take the case of a woman whose husband threatened her with a gun before deliberately hitting her with his car. The prosecutor in the case allowed him to plead to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace. He was given a 12-month suspended sentence and a $50 fine. Later, as she fought for her life, she defended herself and her abuser – the same one who tried to run her over – lost his life.

She was sentenced to life in prison in 2002, all for defending herself against a documented, violent abuser.

Oklahoma criminalizes survival

This case and others like it are the true perversion of justice. Criminalized survival is a fundamental flaw in our justice system – that people in Oklahoma are punished for defending themselves. Survivors often try to have the police intervene several times to protect them from repeated abuse. If that intervention fails, they are left alone to defend themselves. Then Oklahoma punishes them to the full extent of the law.

This is the true “perversion of justice” that the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act seeks to remedy.

As forensic psychologists, social workers and lawyers, we see these cases all the time. The trauma that survivors in Oklahoma are experiencing is real, it is not feigned. It’s documented. And the courts should consider this to overcome Oklahoma’s draconian sentencing standards, which in most cases impose life sentences or life without parole.

Roberson claims that most defendants who claim to have PTSD or mental health issues are “faking it.” He has spent most of his career advising on malingering, the phenomenon in which criminal defendants feign mental health problems to avoid responsibility.

Victims of abuse suffer from trauma

It is unclear why Roberson confuses suspects who pretend to be mentally ill with survivors of interpersonal violence who have evidence of their abuse. Victims of abuse are not mentally ill; they suffer from extreme trauma.

Roberson claims that domestic violence evidence is inherently biased because it is based on “self-reporting.” He seriously suggests that police reports, medical records, 911 calls, and forensic experts like himself (and us) are unreliable. We would then ask the question: If this is true, what evidence would an unbiased report provide?

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He also states that care providers are ‘all too happy to label them (survivors) as victims’. It is curious that Roberson seems to be throwing away the entire psychological profession, including himself, in favor of an unjust, systemically unfair system of criminal justice.

Additionally, the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act still provides for 30-year sentences in the situations Roberson describes as “substantial sentence reductions.” Does 30 years in prison after establishing the crime as a result of domestic violence sound like a “substantial reduction” to a reasonable person?

Oklahoma Survivors’ Act is sentencing reform

The Oklahoma Survivors’ Act is a sentencing reform in a state that hands out longer criminal sentences than any surrounding state. It offers a realistic opportunity for just, trauma-informed punishment for survivors of violence who we shouldn’t be prosecuting at all. These are individuals who should receive trauma-informed care – and not be pushed into the criminal justice system.

The Oklahoma Survivors’ Act is a necessary reform. It passed the Oklahoma Senate 45-0 and the Oklahoma House 84-3. Now is the time for the Legislature and the Governor to stand with the victims and sign this reform into law.

Jan Perry is CEO of YWCA, Oklahoma City. Dr. Kathy LaFortune is a forensic psychologist. Angela Beatty is vice president of programs and engagement at the YWCA, Oklahoma City; Tracey Lyall is CEO of Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc. Joy Hadwiger is a former professor of criminal justice at Troy University, and Dr. Jeanne Russell is a licensed psychologist and former Director of Psychology at the Oklahoma Forensic Center.

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