Haliyma Clay (ORU)
Written on November 14, 2021
This morning the House heard a bill titled ORU-502, which is proposed a new law to be codified into the Oklahoma statutes which says if a person commits the act of rape, then they would be sentenced to a minimum of 40 years, and the maximum sentenced a person could be charged with is a life sentence. The person who violated a person’s body would be required to perform manual labor which all the proceeds made would go directly to the victims, which would help the victim on the path to recovery because, according to the bill, the act of rape can cause “damage done mentally, physically, biologically, or otherwise.” And the bill also states that if the victim loses their life due to the crime, then the proceeds will go to the victim’s closest family members. When Chief Justice Kat Kleiner was asked about her thoughts on the possible legal action, she stated that she is not familiar with criminal law but to take legal action, “you would have to see if it is applicable to state law…to take away a person’s wages could be seen as slavery and any monetary damages to be paid to the victims would have to be set before their prison sentence.” Some of the House delegates said that they liked the idea of the bill but felt that it would be too harsh of a punishment, and they wished that it was more flexible in terms of punishment because the bill is seen as too inhumane. Representative Parker Williams from Tulsa University said, “I understand the intent of the bill. The punishment is too harsh. The people who commit this crime are monsters, but we do not need to be monsters in return.” Representative Alsandor, the author of this bill, was not available for comment.
Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature
