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Photo of April Wilkens
Hi John,
Today, the Oklahoma Survivor Justice Act goes into effect . It is a momentous day for the state of Oklahoma, the fight against extreme sentencing, and the incarcerated survivors who now have a chance at freedom.
When this law passed in May it opened an avenue for resentencing for those for whom abuse and/or coercion were a significant contributing factor to their underlying offense. This is the first time in Oklahoma history that violent offenses have been eligible for resentencing, and therefore is the first chance to end the suffering of survivors languishing behind bars.
Our partners at Oklahoma Appleseed are filing the first case under the Oklahoma Survivor Justice Act at the Tulsa County Courthouse this morning at 11 am Central Time. It is the case of April Wilkens [[link removed]] .
Our campaign has been centered on uplifting the voices and experiences of criminalized survivors. April Wilkens has spent 26 years in prison for saving her life from her abusive ex-fiance.
April did everything you are supposed to do; she filed at least 14 police reports, was granted two restraining orders, and had two rape-kits done, but it did not stop the stalking or attacks. The night she was arrested she called the police after an hours-long physical and sexual assault where she was handcuffed. April barely escaped, and in preserving her life, she was sentenced to life .
It is stories like April’s that fueled our two-year fight to pass this law. Finally, survivors' histories of trauma will be taken into account as they always should have been.
We have a lot of criminalized survivors to help, and we will not stop working alongside our state partners to implement this law to the fullest. But day one sure feels good!
Onward!
Kristen M. Budd, Research Analyst and author of report [[link removed]] Alexandra Bailey
Senior Campaign Strategist
Email: [email protected]
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