The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board unanimously voted to reduce Tony Mann’s life-without-parole sentence after his younger brother — now free — told members Mann didn’t participate in the murder that sent them both to prison.
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Oklahoma officials repeatedly rejected Thompson’s release, weighing the violent nature of the crime over his efforts to change. Now he has a second chance.
Plaintiffs claim the state agency has provided false information about progress on promised reforms, leaving people with severe mental illness languishing in jails for months without treatment.
After serving more than four decades for first-degree murder, Tony Mann is applying for commutation. His younger brother, convicted for the same crime, is getting out of prison later this month.
Months after a deal to end a class-action lawsuit over treatment for people with severe mental illness, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health still can’t provide an accurate count of how many people are waiting in jail for treatment and for how long, consultants found.
Independent consultants cite delays and poor communication from the Department of Mental Health as people with serious mental illness wait in jail for treatment.
A judge is fining the state for failing to treat mentally ill defendants stuck in county jails. With a court-ordered deadline approaching, public defenders and advocates say the system remains overwhelmed, underfunded and unresponsive.
