Victims of abuse deserve better protections. The Oklahoma Survivors’ Act provides that

A system that prosecutes women who defend themselves from violence is the true perversion of justice ― not the reform that seeks to help them. ― Jan Peery, CEO, YWCA, Oklahoma City

In a recent oped in The Oklahoman, Dr. Shawn Roberson calls the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act as a “perversion of justice.”

The truth is that Oklahoma’s current justice system is the real perversion of justice.

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Consider the case of one woman, whose husband threatened her with a gun before deliberately hitting her with his car. The district attorney in this case allowed him to plead to a misdemeanor for disturbing the peace. He received a 12-month suspended sentence and a $50 fine. Later, when she was in a fight for her life, she defended herself and her abuser — the same one who tried to run her over — lost his life.

She was sentenced to life in prison in 2002, all for defending herself against a documented, violent abuser.

Oklahoma criminalizes survivorship

This case and cases like it are the true perversion of justice. Criminalized survivorship is a fundamental flaw in our legal system ― that people in Oklahoma are punished for defending themselves. Survivors often attempt to get law enforcement to intervene multiple times to save them from repeated abuse. When that intervention fails, they are left alone to defend themselves. Then Oklahoma punishes them to the full extent of the law.

This is the true “perversion of justice” the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act seeks to remedy.

As forensic psychologists, social workers and attorneys, we see these cases all the time. The trauma endured by survivors in Oklahoma is real, it is not feigned. It is documented. And it should be considered by courts to overcome Oklahoma’s draconian sentence ranges, which mandate life sentences or life without parole in most instances.

Roberson purports that most defendants claiming PTSD or mental health concerns are “faking it.” He has spent the majority of his career opining on “malingering,” the phenomena that criminal defendants are faking mental health issues to shirk responsibility.

Victims of abuse are suffering from trauma

It is unclear why Roberson is conflating defendants pretending to be mentally ill with survivors of interpersonal violence who have evidence of their abuse. Victims of abuse are not mentally ill ― they are suffering from extreme trauma.

Roberson claims that evidence of domestic violence is inherently biased because it is based on “self reporting.” He is earnestly suggesting that police reports, medical records, 911 calls, forensic experts like himself (and us) are unreliable. We would pose the question then, if this is true, what evidence would provide an unbiased report of anything?

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He also states that counselors are “all too eager to label them [survivors] as victims.” It is curious that Roberson seems to throw out the entire psychological profession, including himself, in favor of an unjust, systemically unfair, system of criminal justice administration.

Additionally, the Oklahoma Survivors' Act still provides for sentences of 30 years in the situations Roberson describes as “substantial reductions” in sentencing. Does 30 years in prison after establishing the crime was the result of domestic violence sound like a “substantial reduction” to any reasonable person?

Oklahoma Survivors' Act is a sentencing reform

The Oklahoma Survivors’ Act is a sentencing reform in a state that hands out longer criminal sentences than any surrounding state. It offers a realistic opportunity for a just, trauma-informed sentence for survivors of violence whom we really should not be prosecuting at all. These are individuals who should be getting trauma-informed care ― not shoved into the criminal justice system.

The Oklahoma Survivors’ Act is a needed reform. It passed the Oklahoma Senate 45-0 and the Oklahoma House 84-3. Now, it is time for the Legislature and the governor to stand with victims and sign this reform into law.

Jan Peery is CEO of YWCA, Oklahoma City. Dr. Kathy LaFortune is a forensic psychologist. Angela Beatty is vice president of programs and engagement with the YWCA, Oklahoma City; Tracey Lyall is CEO, Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc. Dr. Joy Hadwiger is a former professor of criminal justice at Troy University, and Dr. Jeanne Russell is a licensed psychologist and former director of psychology, Oklahoma Forensic Center.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Survivors' Act offers just sentencing alternative