The major national criminal law news story of the week comes from Oklahoma where on Monday more than 400 inmates had their sentences commuted and were released from prison. It was the largest mass commutation in U.S. history. As USA Today explains, Oklahoma made changes to its criminal law in 2016 that lowered the classification of certain offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and correspondingly reduced the punishment for those offenses. Earlier this year, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a law that gave those changes retroactive effect, leading to Monday’s release. The USA Today piece says that the state expects to save $12 million by releasing the low-level offenders. Keep reading for more news. Wife Swap Whistleblower. It’s been a while since there’s been significant news related to the scheme by former district attorneys Craig Blitzer and Wallace Bradsher to improperly hire each other’s wives for state jobs. As noted in last summer’s updates on the story, Bradsher was convicted by a jury and Blitzer pleaded guilty to criminal offenses arising from the scheme. The story is back in the news this week, with the Greensboro News & Record reporting that the woman who tipped the SBI off to the scheme, Debra Halbrook, testified this week at the trial of a civil suit she brought against the state for lost wages and retirement benefits. Halbrook worked as a legal assistant for the Person/Caswell DA’s Office and, she alleges, was fired by Bradsher when he became suspicious that she had reported his arrangement [...]
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