Letters from Commission Leadership

At a time when the nation faces urgent questions about how to produce safety, pursue justice, and uphold our most deeply held values, it’s essential to ensure that no one is left out of the conversation. Yet for far too long, the experiences of justice-involved women, who often endure the system’s failures most acutely, have been largely overlooked—with grave consequences for women, families, and communities.

We know more than ever today about the unique factors that shape women’s involvement with the justice system. Judges, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, corrections executives, program providers, researchers, and advocates across the country have made important strides in advancing new approaches that reflect this knowledge.

But policy and practice have not fully caught up. Women now make up a growing share of the criminal justice population, even as overall incarceration rates have declined. These women continue to cycle through systems that were not designed with them in mind—systems that struggle to address the trauma, economic insecurity, and relationship influences that so often lie beneath the surface and drive women’s justice involvement. And because women are typically the primary caretakers of children, their justice involvement is more likely to cause generational harm for families.

As a young girl, I watched helplessly as my mother’s untreated mental health challenges destabilized our family. While there were moments of joy, the darker times left me bitter and confused.

Over time, I learned that my mother had been a long-time victim of abuse. Understanding her trauma and its controlling force enabled me to see her through a more empathetic lens, which helped heal our relationship and chart a different course for my own life—and for others.

Since becoming Oklahoma’s first lady in 2019, I’ve drawn on my personal experiences to prioritize the awareness and treatment of mental health issues, abuse, and substance use, particularly among women. My family did not discuss these issues because of my mother’s fear of judgment, and today I see how this stigma isolates people from the support they need.

Fortunately, society has made progress on shifting these narratives, but we must rethink policies and practices that overlook trauma and exacerbate harm. This isn’t just about compassion—it’s about building stronger families and safer communities.

More than one in five children under 17 in Oklahoma have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—including abuse, neglect, poverty, or a parent’s mental illness, substance use disorder, or incarceration—placing the state among the highest in the nation. Oklahoma also regularly leads the country in its female incarceration rate.