January 2022 with Marsy's Law for Oklahoma
The Oklahoma team ended 2021 in high drive, eagerly preparing for an inaugural advisory board retreat in January! Marsy’s Law has a very active board, comprised of ten members spanning a range of survivor/victim experiences and advocate expertise, with outreach touching all four corners of the state and everywhere in between. The board has met quarterly since its inception, in Spring 2020, and works across an agenda of priorities for each year while staying flexible to address current events or potential partnership opportunities as they arise.
The retreat was held on Saturday, January 29, and featured a full day of speakers and discussion. Speakers included Brandon Clabes, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Council of Law Enforcement Education & Training, Tricia Everest, Oklahoma Secretary of Public Safety, Melissa Blanton, Victim Services Director for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office and Maria Rosales-Lambert, Executive Director of Oklahoma’s only mobile forensic interviewing service. That lineup alone was stellar and led to deep discussion, but in addition to the individual board voices who asked great questions and provided context and references of application to scenarios, two board members presented on victims’ rights invocation and the intersectionality of statutory and constitutional victims’ rights between local, state, federal and tribal criminal justice systems - Darcie Parton-Scoon and Jacintha Webster, respectively.
We were also happy to have a report from MLFA staff on legal and legislative efforts around the country, as well as a birds-eye view of how our collective efforts converge to progress this important movement.