Blake Shipley: Justice Reform Now!

As a public defender, Blake noticed the same thing happening over and over—people got stuck in jail because they were poor, not because they were a threat to society, and this made them lose their jobs and their homes.  This also isn’t fair to taxpayers—we spend about $40 million annually keeping people in the county jail waiting for their cases to be heard.

Blake wants to get non-violent offenders out of Tulsa, Oklahoma's over-crowded jail and back to their jobs and families. Is that something you'd support?

As an aspiring judge, he wants to create positive systemic change from the inside in Tulsa County, one of our country's worst criminal justice systems.  Oklahoma is the world leader in incarcerating males and females.

The Tulsa World recently reported  that "Tulsa County’s monetary bail system is unconstitutional because it indefinitely holds poor people behind bars despite a presumption of innocence and inflicts 'devastating consequences,'" according to a national lawsuit. The suit is seeking class-action status and was filed against all sitting Tulsa County judges.
 
Poor people are sitting in jail, waiting for justice. Blake is running against the most inefficient judge in the courthouse. His opponent is holding the most people in jail, and those people are waiting the longest—220 days on average for their case to be decided—as compared to any other Tulsa County judge. 

Tulsa is long overdue for change. To make this happen, we need funds to run a winning campaign. You can effect criminal justice reform on a local level that would send a strong message: we are tired of inaction. Even if you don't live in Oklahoma,  this is an opportunity to support real, systemic change.

We've got a detailed and aggressive grassroots marketing plan; but we need your help to execute it. Election Day is November 6th!

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Every dollar truly counts — we can stretch a buck to go a long way! Here are a few expenses we hope to be able to afford as we wind up to the election:

Walking cards: $100 for 2000
Blake has been knocking on doors every day, all summer long. He passes them out to people who open the door so that they can see some quick facts about his qualifications and ideas.

Door hangers: $150 for 1000
We need more large door hanger ads for the people who aren’t home when he’s there.

Billboards: from $225 to $2000 for 4 weeks, depending on size and location

Postcards: $1000 to print and mail 3,100

(To learn more about the campaign, please visit shipleyforjudge.com)

Thank you so much for your generosity. We can do this!