Oklahoma Senators Thompson and Standridge encouraged by state’s Top 10 ranking for highway bridges
Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
Oklahoma Senators Thompson and Standridge encouraged by states Top 10 ranking for highway bridges8/30/2020
Oklahoma City – Senate Appropriations Chair Roger Thompson and Transportation Committee Chair Rob Standridge issued statements soon after last week’s announcement that Oklahoma had gone from 49th in the nation to a Top Ten state for the condition of its highway system bridges.
The two Republican leaders said, in a press release sent to CapitolBeatOK and other news organizations:
“It’s taken Oklahoma 15 years, but we’ve gone from being in the bottom ten to now being a Top Ten state for the condition of our bridges. It was a combined effort of Legislative measures supported by governors, the hard work of the Department of Transportation and with the help of our congressional delegation,” said Thompson, R-Okemah. “I think this is proof that if we work together to find new approaches to old challenges, we can accomplish anything on behalf of our state and its citizens.”– Senate Appropriations Chair Roger Thompson, R-Okemah.
“The value of Oklahoma’s highway system is $60 billion, which makes it our top physical asset. After years of underfunding, we’ve made the necessary investments to protect that asset. We will see benefits from this investment for decades to come. I look forward to working with my fellow members, the Department of Transportation, our governor and congressional delegates as we continue to build on our success.” – Senate Transportation Committee Chair Rob Standridge, R-Norman.
Oklahoma Senators Thompson and Standridge encouraged by state’s Top 10 ranking for highway bridges Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
0 Comments
NOTE: This is adapted from a longer essay which appeared in The August print edition of The City Sentinel newspaper, and last month at City-Sentinel.com, and CapitolBeatOK.com.
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the most significant legal decision in Oklahoma’s history. Here is a distilled analysis of this
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority: “On the far end of the Trail of Tears was a promise. Forced to leave their ancestral lands in Georgia and Alabama, the Creek Nation received assurances that their new lands in the West would be secure forever.”
He cited the 1832 treaty between the U.S. and the Creek Nation, which guaranteed lands west of the Mississippi to the tribe, and that no “State or Territory [shall] ever have a right to pass laws for the government of such Indians, but they shall be allowed to govern themselves.”
Outlining the bare essentials of sex crimes committed by a Seminole Indian, Gorsuch noted that Jimcy McGirt, “has argued in postconviction proceedings that the State lacked jurisdiction to prosecute him because he is an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and his crimes took place on the Creek Reservation.” Gorsuch posed the question, “Did he commit his crimes in Indian country?”
Notes about “Indian Country” and Reservations
Using the term “Indian Country” and putting it in quotation marks is not a sneer.
Indian Country is not a fiction, it is a fact. Reading the majority and dissenting opinions, a reader can learn at least quite a bit (but not everything) about the confusing shades of gray that cloud understanding of “Indian County.”
In many places deemed Indian Country, tribes exercise a lot of jurisdiction and day-to-day governance over major aspects of daily life. These parts of America are called reservations, in a time-honored sense of the word.
There are other places deemed “Indian Country” which are not, however, reservations – but land held in trust by the ultimate sovereign, the U.S. government. On these lands, a tribal nation or nations can exercise meaningful but not ultimate control.
States are allowed considerable power in non-reservation “Indian Country.”
The history of Oklahoma has been governed by an understanding (or belief or customary practice) that the state had no reservations (except perhaps – another challenging matter – Osage County).
Before ‘McGirt,’ the state of Oklahoma’s laws and policies generally had prevailed in non-reservation Indian Country, subject, however, to evolving compacts between tribes and the state.
In ‘McGirt’, Nixon’s slow transformation becomes seismic
President Richard Nixon triggered a new sensitivity to tribal powers, something many do not note when considering his presidency. He signed more new laws and funding mechanisms benefiting tribes than any predecessor. In the post-Nixon modern era, renewed sensitivity to tribal sovereignty has resulted in a methodical slow motion transformation. ‘McGirt’, however, yields seismic transformation.
Gorsuch gives his view on the last two centuries of history touching tribal lands in eastern Oklahoma. He puts the burden on Congress to address the practical consequences of innumerable changes in daily life for tribal members and their non-Indian neighbors from 1907 to today.
In a way, that seems fair, but in another way it is folly.
Aside from the criminal cases, after nearly two centuries, many pre-statehood tribal lands developed into privately held property.
Justice Gorsuch’s view is the new interpretation of law. The majority opinion became must-reading at the moment of its issuance. He concluded his opinion thus:
“The federal government promised the Creek a reservation in perpetuity. Over time, Congress has diminished that reservation. It has sometimes restricted and other times expanded the Tribe’s authority. But Congress has never withdrawn the promised reservation. As a result, many of the arguments before us today follow a sadly familiar pattern. Yes, promises were made, but the price of keeping them has become too great, so now we should just cast a blind eye. We reject that thinking. If Congress wishes to withdraw its promises, it must say so. Unlawful acts, performed long enough and with sufficient vigor, are never enough to amend the law. To hold otherwise would be to elevate the most brazen and longstanding injustices over the law, both rewarding wrong and failing those in the right.”
The 5-4 majority reversed an Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruling. Oklahomans will learn over time how “wrong” gets defined in Congress, this state and again in the courts.
Difficult and contentious matters, involving both criminal law property rights, are emerging since early July.
Attorney General Mike Hunter’s office has literally argued both sides of important aspects of the issues raised in the ‘McGirt’ case (and the separate but intertwined ‘Murphy’ case).
With Hunter leading the first wave, it took only a few days for any pretense of ‘United for Oklahoma’ rhetoric to collapse into confusing division. That remains the case almost two months after the High Court’s edict, despite emerging cooperation between tribes and local law enforcement agencies in eastern Oklahoma.
Four justices agree ‘Congress disestablished any Creek reservation more than 100 years ago’
Chief Justice John Roberts’ lengthy dissenting opinion was joined by Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanagh and (except for one reference) Clarence Thomas. The dissent should be studied carefully.
Roberts distilled his reasoning with these final words: “As the Creek, the State of Oklahoma, the United States, and our judicial predecessors have long agreed, Congress disestablished any Creek reservation more than 100 years ago.”
The chief justice began the dissent with this summation of the majority’s impact:
“In 1997, the State of Oklahoma convicted petitioner Jimcy McGirt of molesting, raping, and forcibly sodomizing a four-year-old girl, his wife’s granddaughter. McGirt was sentenced to 1,000 years plus life in prison. Today, the Court holds that Oklahoma lacked jurisdiction to prosecute McGirt — on the improbable ground that, unbeknownst to anyone for the past century, a huge swathe of Oklahoma is actually a Creek Indian reservation, on which the State may not prosecute serious crimes committed by Indians like McGirt. Not only does the Court discover a Creek reservation that spans three million acres and includes most of the city of Tulsa, but the Court’s reasoning portends that there are four more such reservations in Oklahoma. The rediscovered reservations encompass the entire eastern half of the State — 19 million acres that are home to 1.8 million people, only 10%–15% of whom are Indians.”
Gorsuch and Roberts are both intelligent, as is each and every justice. To understand the anxiety many intelligent people of good will now feel read the above paragraph at least third times. The Roberts dissent is more attentive to text and legal history than his pronouncements in other cases.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in ‘McGirt v. Oklahoma’ is, for the state of Oklahoma, existential. The majority opinion throws the legal jurisdiction of much of the state into question. It may take decades to resolve the confusion.
Clarence Thomas got it right
In his dissent, Justice Thomas captures the jurisprudence I honor – the tradition of the late Judge Robert Bork, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and Thomas himself. There are shades of difference among the trio, but most of time, I agree with their reasoning about important matters of law.
Thomas said the majority “reverses a state court judgment that it has no jurisdiction to review.” Reviewing precedent, Thomas reasoned that “Under this well-settled rule, we lack jurisdiction to review the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision, because it rests on an adequate and independent state ground.” He agreed that the High Court “misapplies our precedents,” but asserted “the Court also overrides Oklahoma’s statutory procedural bar, upsetting a violent sex offender’s conviction without the power to do so. The State of Oklahoma deserves more respect under our Constitution’s federal system. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.”
Wrapping up: The Lay of the Land (Fix)
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, has long sought to lock in place certain advantages that have, over time, flowed through case law and administrative fiat to the major tribes, most important to the Chickasaw Nation, the most powerful tribal entity in Oklahoma.
These advantages have over many years locked in unfair advantages for the Big Tribes over the smaller nations. A clash between the Chickasaw and Comanche is still active in the federal judiciary, while a new version of what analysts call the “land fix” (favorable to the Chickasaw) is pending in Congress.
I have outlined the McGirt case, not hiding my convictions.
The best way for any reader to decide how she or he really feels is not to linger in anger or joy, but to study this historic ruling. Remember, it was 5-4. And there have been times that passionate dissents become the basis for new majorities that shift slightly or significantly old precedents.
The majority and dissenting opinions for ‘McGirt v. Oklahoma’ can be viewed here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-9526_9okb.pdf
Disclosure: Publisher of The City Sentinel newspaper, Pat McGuigan is the author of three books and editor of seven, including ‘Crime and Punishment in Modern America (1985). McGuigan won first place in Diversity news for his 2012 report on the late Archie Hoffman’s effort to restore the land around Fort Reno, in western Oklahoma, to the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes.
ANALYSIS IN BRIEF: The most important decision in Oklahoma history, ‘McGirt v. Oklahoma’ Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
In 2018, lawmakers voted to raise taxes by roughly $600 million with a significant share of that money going to teacher pay raises, and then voted to raise teacher pay again in 2019. Over those two years, teacher salaries increased by an average $7,400 apiece. Lawmakers argued the pay raises would eliminate the state’s teacher shortage and draw more educators to Oklahoma’s classrooms.
It has not worked out as predicted, and lawmakers were told Wednesday to expect an outright decline in the number of teachers in state schools this year.
“We just surveyed all the schools in the state, as we do every year for teacher-shortage survey, and you can probably guess in this year with everything going on it’s a little worse,” said Shawn Hime, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association. “We expect 300 to 500 fewer teachers this year, based on that survey, statewide.”
Hime made those comments during a study conducted by the House Appropriations and Budget
Subcommittee on Education. He said the shortage is the result of teachers choosing to leave the profession and school officials choosing not to fill vacant positions due to anticipated state budget shortfalls in the coming year. A shortfall of up to $1 billion has been predicted for next year’s state budget due to low oil prices and the impact of the COVID-19 recession.
While COVID-19 may play some role in the predicted decline, many challenges in attracting teachers preceded the pandemic, despite the massive increase in average pay.
While the number of teachers in Oklahoma schools initially increased after the pay raise, state records showed there would have been a net decline (https://ift.tt/2EEq4ik) had it not been for growth in emergency-certified teachers.
Overall, from passage of tax increases in 2018 to December 2019, the state netted one additional teacher for every $364,000 in increased school spending.
And a top official at the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) indicated those numbers may effectively be inflated as the result of teachers who chose to defer retirement. State retirement benefits are tied to the top three to five highest years of pay, depending on when a teacher entered the system. As a result, some teachers chose to teach a few more years because they would receive larger retirement benefits if their final years of salary included the $7,400 increase.
Noting those factors, the chief of government affairs at the OSDE warned in October 2019 of a pending exodus from the teaching profession, saying, “We have a cliff coming, kind of, in three years down the road from the teacher pay raise.”
Officials have also said any shortage of teachers is not the result of limited supply. In December 2019, education officials said (https://ift.tt/3b1ncYJ) there remain about 32,000 people in Oklahoma who are certified but not teaching.
Recognizing that pay raises have not generated the necessary increase in traditionally certified teachers in Oklahoma schools, lawmakers voted (https://ift.tt/3b1ncYJ) this year to extend the number of years an individual may teach with an emergency certificate from two years to four.
NOTE: This news story first appeared at the website of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA – https://ift.tt/2Qvcpg0). The story is reposted with permission. Ray Carter’s reports often appear in The City Sentinel newspaper, and on CapitolBeatOK.com, an independent online news service).
Teacher numbers decline despite pay raises Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) has allowed two new state-tribal gaming compacts to take effect, a move that could result in greater competition in Oklahoma’s casino market and provide a higher share of gaming revenue to state government.
The compact agreements were announced earlier this year thanks to negotiations conducted by Governor Kevin Stitt and officials with the Kialegee Tribal Town (KTT) and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB).
The new gaming compacts double the current “exclusivity” fee rate that tribes pay on Class III (“Las Vegas” style) games from 6 percent in the 2004 Model Gaming Compact to as high as 13 percent.
“The U.S. Department of Interior recognizes the State’s good faith effort to negotiate with Oklahoma tribes in the approval of two new gaming compacts that will generate new revenue for public schools in the future and expand economic opportunity for our tribal partners,” Stitt said.
“I appreciate and respect the thoughtful leadership of Mekko Brian Givens and Chief Joe Bunch who worked hard to secure fair terms for their citizens, and whose contributions throughout the negotiations ensured a competitive gaming market in Oklahoma. With these new gaming compacts, Oklahoma is ushering in a new era of prosperity, opportunity, and partnership for the State and the Tribes.” (CapitolBeatOK Editor’s note: The historic meaning of the title ‘Mekko’ is “Town King.”)
Neither the Kialegee Tribal Town nor the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians currently operates casinos in Oklahoma. The two tribes’ compacts will allow them to open casinos near metro areas and do not include sports betting or any other new forms of gambling. [CapitolBeatOK editor’s note: For additional background on the compacts, read Pat McGuigan’s report, here: https://capitolbeatok.worldsecuresystems.com/reports/news-analysis-two-more-oklahoma-tribes-on-july-2-sign-declarations-of-independence-through-new-compa].]
Leaders of both tribes welcomed the news of federal approval.
“The Kialegee Tribal Town would like to thank Governor Kevin Stitt, his administration, the Great State of Oklahoma and the U.S. Department of Interior for the good faith in producing our new gaming compact,” said Kialegee Mekko Brian Givens. “This compact, which was approved by operation of law, will allow the Kialegee Tribal Town the same opportunities others have had and could improve the economic landscape for the Tribal Town and tribal members. As an agreement between two sovereign entities, I see this act of good faith in continuing our relationship with the State of Oklahoma and look forward to future dialogue to improve our local communities.”
“It is a great day as we prepare to partner with the State of Oklahoma in this Class III gaming compact that will be good for Logan County, the State and the United Keetoowah Band,” said Chief Joe Bunch. “Our compact will help provide much needed resources to our tribe and surrounding communities as we continue to develop a robust economy and exercise our tribal sovereignty.”
The tribes can begin operating under the terms agreed to between the parties once the compacts are published in the Federal Register.
The creation of new casinos near Oklahoma’s metro areas or along major traffic corridors threatens the market dominance long enjoyed by the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, which have steadfastly opposed the renegotiation of state-tribal gaming compacts that smaller tribes are now employing to expand their operations.
Data on exclusivity fees contained in the Oklahoma Gaming Compliance Unit’s Annual Report for fiscal year 2019, the most recent available, indicates 66 percent of Class III gaming revenue is currently generated in casinos owned by the Cherokee Nation, Chickasaw Nation, and Choctaw Nation (https://omes.ok.gov/sites/g/files/gmc316/f/publications/GameCompAnnReport2019.pdf).
Overall, 81 percent of casino gambling in the 2019 budget year occurred in casinos owned by just 18 percent of Oklahoma tribes. Many smaller tribes have been marginalized because the old compacts limited their casinos to remote locations and gave the best locations to only a handful of tribes.
The agreements Stitt has negotiated are shifting that landscape.
A compact (https://ift.tt/31ljoye) Stitt negotiated with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe provided for exclusivity fees of 8 percent for proposed new facilities in Noble and Payne counties and a 12-percent rate at a proposed new casino in Logan County.
A compact (https://ift.tt/3jaGNc3) with the Comanche Nation provided for an exclusivity fee of 13 percent for a proposed Love County casino, 12 percent for a proposed Cleveland County casino, and 8 percent for a planned Grady County casino. [CapitolBeatOK editor’s note: For a look back at the Otoe-Missouria and Comanche compacts, read Pat McGuigan’s report here: (https://capitolbeatok.worldsecuresystems.com/reports/i-was-wrong-in-part-but-now-i-am-right-in-full-stitt-comanche-and-otoe-missouria-green-light-a-bette).]
In addition to agreeing to higher fees for more lucrative casino locations, the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe also agreed that Class III games would represent a specific share of casino revenue at each site. Currently, some tribes have claimed to have increased Class II machines in their casinos, which are not subject to state fees.
It has been estimated that if all Class II machines in Oklahoma were replaced with Class III machines, and exclusivity fees were kept at the 6-percent fee rate, it would result in $80 million to $90 million more in annual fee payments to the Oklahoma government.
Earlier this year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled (https://ift.tt/3hmS6NJ) that the tribal gaming compacts Stitt entered into with the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe exceeded the governor’s authority because they included sports betting.
However, officials with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe noted their new compact also included a severability clause that allows the agreement to remain intact even if specific provisions are struck down. Tribal officials say the compact, having received federal approval, remains valid and that only the sports-betting provision has been stricken.
“The Oklahoma Supreme Court doesn’t have jurisdiction to invalidate our compact when state and federal law dictates that our compact is legal,” Otoe-Missouria Tribe Chairman John R. Shotton said in a statement.
Shotton said the tribe would “continue to operate under the remaining terms of our compact pursuant to the severability clause of the compact, and we will refrain from operating any game that is not authorized under state law.”
The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Citizen Potawatomie nations have since filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., arguing the U.S. Department of Interior violated federal law by allowing the Comanche Nation and the Otoe-Missouria Tribe compacts to take effect.
Similar challenges are expected following federal approval of the Kialegee Tribal Town (KTT) and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB) compacts.
Legislative leaders, who filed the lawsuit that successfully challenged the sports-betting provisions of the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe compacts, have also filed similar lawsuits challenging Kialegee Tribal Town and Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, even though neither of those compacts authorizes any new form of gambling.
CapitolBeatOK Editor’s Note: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) information on leaders of the two tribes highlighted in this report can be studied here (https://ift.tt/3hz81s8) and here (https://ift.tt/3ho1yR0). Additional BIA information on the two tribes can be accessed through those same online portals. Ray Carter is director of the Center for Independent Journalism, based at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. This story was first posted at the OCPA website, here (https://ift.tt/3ho1yR0). It is reposted with permission. A veteran journalist who has also worked in government, Carter’s writing awards include recognition from The Associated Press. CapitolBeatOK founder Pat McGuigan selected the illustrations and photographs for this posting.
Federal government approves new state-tribal compacts Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
Dr. Nyla Ali Khan
As we celebrate the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in the United States (on August 18, 1920), which gave women the right to vote, I am reminded of the rights that the women of Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed as early as 1947.
Because of the propaganda from every side, several people don’t realize that.
Women in my homeland gained new rights and increasingly asserted themselves in politics – and this momentous shift in traditional gender relationships opened up new possibilities for the pursuit of democracy and regional peace.
In 1947, Kashmiri women formed a coalition across religious and class divides to further the nationalist consciousness of a society in the process of self-determining.
The work done by this organization was culturally regenerative, politically emancipatory, and socially redemptive.
The women’s movement was by no means elitist or exclusionary. In addition to upper-and middle-class women, even grass-roots workers were active participants in the women’s movement.
The Cultural Front of this movement sought to unite a variety of religious and regional groups in a single, national movement.
Most of the members of this coalition were wives and mothers who shared the nationalist hopes, anxieties, ardent desire to be the architects of their future and inscribe their own destinies along with their male counterparts.
Their participation in the fervent political awakening and cultural resurgence of that era did not, by any means, endorse the traditionally submissive and self-denying role of the wife and mother.
Note: A native of Kashmir, Nyla Ali Khan is a citizen of the United States. Recently selected as Advisory Council chair for the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women, her essays on diverse topics appear regularly at CapitolBeatOK.com, an online news service, and in The City Sentinel newspaper in Oklahoma City.
COMMENTARY – Blended Memory: Kashmir’s Cultural Front and America’s Nineteenth Amendment Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
The Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women (OCSW – https://ift.tt/29MESaQ), a state commission, has elected its officers for the 2020-21 year. The commission informs the legislature and executive branch on issues impacting improvement of opportunities and quality of life for Oklahoma women.
“The new officers will continue guiding the commission on its mission of helping every Oklahoma woman realize her full potential as a contributor to society,” said OCSW Executive Director Kitti Asberry. The officers are nominated by a nominating committee comprised of OCSW commissioners and then elected by the full commission.
The elected officers also serve as the OCSW executive board, which includes:
• Chair: Gloria Torres, Executive Director of Calle Dos Cinco in Historic Capitol Hill Business District
• Vice Chair: Delores Runnels, Senior Pastor at The Father’s House Church
• Financial Officer: Brenda Jones Barwick, APR, President and CEO of Jones PR
• Secretary: Mary Larson, Associate Dean for Special Collections at Oklahoma State University
• Advisory Council Chair: Dr. Nyla Khan, faculty member at Rose State College
The newly elected Chair Gloria Torres stated, “We will continue informing and educating lawmakers about societal, educational and economic issues to advance the progress of opportunities for women in Oklahoma and identifying barriers that prevent women from reaching their potential.”
OCSW works closely with the Oklahoma legislative and executive branches to provide expertise and to identify issues impacting the quality of life, inequality and barriers for women and families in Oklahoma through community conversations, events and research. OCSW communicates these issues to appropriate governmental branches with recommendations of solutions through legislation or policies. In addition, the Commission identifies opportunities to encourage and empower women leaders across the state of Oklahoma.
To learn more about OCSW, please visit www.ok.gov/ocsw/.
About the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women: The Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women is a state commission that serves as the voice for women in Oklahoma. It strengthens and empowers women in Oklahoma by informing and educating the legislature and executive branches about issues to improve opportunities and quality of life for women.
Commissioners are appointed by the Governor, Senate President Pro Tem and Speaker of the House. The commission oversees the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame and presents the Guardian and Kate Barnard Awards. To learn more about OCSW, visit www.ok.gov/ocsw/.
Oklahoma Commission on Status or Women welcomes newly elected officers Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
This item has no description. Follow link to view item.
Stephanie Bice secures Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police support as she seeks GOP nod to challenge Kendra Horn Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK Runoff Race News: Stephanie Bice outraises Terry Neese for seventh straight reporting period8/20/2020
Stephanie Bice, conservative Republican candidate for Congress in Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District, outraised Terry Neese in the most recent fundraising period, campaign finance records show.
This is the seventh consecutive fundraising period that Bice has bested Neese, a businesswoman, in dollars raised and Bice has outraised Neese in every filing period since becoming a candidate.
Bice raised $273,052 from more than 1500 donors in the reporting period covering July 1 through August 5, 2020.
More than 89 percent of Bice’s contributions came from Oklahoma.
The totals include no loans from the candidate. Her campaign remains debt-free.
Neese’s campaign is now $800,000 in debt.
“If we’re going to retire Nancy Pelosi and change Washington, we first need a candidate who can beat Kendra Horn,” Bice said in a release sent to The City Sentinel and other news organizations.
“We’ve built a grassroots campaign with thousands of donors who share our cause to secure the future for our children and grandchildren. I’m grateful to every one of them.”
A lifelong resident of the Fifth Congressional District, Senator Bice has established a conservative record in the state Legislature.
In an endorsement, The City Sentinel newspaper, based in the heart of the Fifth District, said, “Republicans in Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District must discern whether or not to nominate their best option to present a serious challenge to incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn.
“State Sen. Stephanie Bice, an experienced public servant with a solid conservative record, is the candidate best positioned to make the case for a change. Senator Bice is pro-life, a defender of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, an energetic campaigner and a proven candidate.”
The newspaper, which has a record of supporting candidates for public office from all three state parties – Republican, Democrat and Libertarian – reflected that Neese “has sought public office before, and was defeated. There is no dishonor in that, but it should be kept in mind to answer the question in voters minds: Can she win in November?
“Stephanie Bice is a winner and a leader. She is a woman of integrity and determination. The City Sentinel supports the nomination of Stephanie Bice to face the incumbent in November.”
Runoff Race News: Stephanie Bice outraises Terry Neese for seventh straight reporting period Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
author: Ray Carter, OCPA Center for Independent Journalism
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, whose members owned Black slaves and fought on the side of the Confederacy in the Civil War, is now opposing federal efforts to require that descendants of the tribe’s former slaves, called Freedmen, be given promised rights before the tribe can receive federal housing funds. Choctaw leaders say any such requirement infringes upon tribal sovereignty.
“The Freedman issue is a problem caused by the United States, not the Choctaw Nation,” Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton wrote in a June 25 letter (https://ift.tt/34bA3q5) to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Congress should not be permitted to abuse its power by forcing the Choctaw Nation to fix America’s longstanding problems of systemic racism rooted in America’s enslavement of African Americans.”
The tribe’s argument has drawn strong pushback from individuals descended from former slaves owned by members of five Oklahoma tribes — the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Seminole, and Muscogee (Creek) nations.
In a subsequent letter letter (https://ift.tt/3aQUz0B) of response, Marilyn Vann, president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association, said Batton is “incorrect” in claiming the Freedmen issue is a “problem caused by the United States.”
“The Choctaw freedmen issue was caused by the Choctaw nation’s system of permanent enslavement of people of African descent, its waging war on the United States during the Civil War by joining the confederate states in 1861 (ratified through a treaty) primarily to protect the chattel slavery system, and subsequent failure to uphold the promises and commitments it made to the Choctaw freedmen tribal members adopted by the tribe and their descendants—issues on which Mr. Batton is totally silent.”
Following the conclusion of the Civil War, the five slave-owning tribes in Oklahoma that fought with the Confederacy signed new treaties with the U.S. government.
In the Choctaw Nation’s 1866 treaty (https://ift.tt/2Ej1B1T), the federal government promised the Choctaws and the Chickasaw Nation $300,000, an amount equal to roughly $4.8 million today, in return for the tribes making “such laws, rules, and regulations as may be necessary to give all persons of African descent, resident in the said nation at the date of the treaty of Fort Smith, and their descendants, heretofore held in slavery among said nations, all the rights, privileges, and immunities, including the right of suffrage, of citizens of said nations …”
The Choctaw Nation granted citizenship to its former slaves and received its federal payment in subsequent years. However, the tribal constitution (https://ift.tt/321LbTG) adopted by Choctaw voters in 1983 effectively eliminated Freedman citizens because its section on tribal membership declared, “The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma shall consist of all Choctaw Indians by blood whose names appear on the original rolls of the Choctaw Nation … and their lineal descendants.”
Issues tied to the 1866 treaty have arisen again in Congress, where reauthorization of the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act (NAHASDA) is being debated.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat who chairs the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, has proposed amending that law to require that the federal secretary of Housing and Urban Development “withhold all or partial funds to a tribe or tribal entity” if officials determine “that the tribe is not in compliance with obligations under its 1866 treaty with the United States as it relates to the inclusion of persons who are lineal descendants of Freedmen as having the rights of the citizens of such tribes ...”
That amendment could have significant financial implications for the Choctaw Nation.
In a July 7 column (https://ift.tt/2E7zTW2) in The Oklahoma Eagle, Eli Grayson, a Freedman descendant who is also a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation by blood, noted that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected to provide the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Seminole, and Muscogee (Creek) nations $62.2 million in NAHASDA grant funds this year. Although the five tribes represent just eight-tenths of one percent of the 573 federally recognized tribes in the United States today, they are expected to receive around 10 percent of all NAHASDA grant funds.
Batton said Waters’ legislation would “over-ride the federally approved Constitution of the Choctaw Nation, subjugate the sovereignty, self-governance and self-determination of the Choctaw Nation to the control of the federal government, and by-pass tribal and federal judicial procedures.”
“Our Choctaw Constitution, adopted by the Choctaw citizens and subsequently approved by the United States government in 1983, requires every applicant for tribal citizenship to show direct lineal descendancy to a Choctaw citizen of Choctaw blood on the 1906 Choctaw citizen roll,” Batton wrote. “The Choctaw Nation could not comply with Chairwoman Waters’ bill language without violating the Choctaw Constitution.”
Vann said there are approximately 200,000 individuals today who are descendants of the slaves of the Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole nations, and that Batton’s letter “disparages the Freedmen and their rich history, preferring to keep their story buried and continue the stain of legacy that continues to haunt our nation.”
“To be clear, the language that Chairman Waters has drafted applies only to the 5 Civilized Tribes that held black slaves and entered Treaties with the Confederate States,” Vann wrote. “Contrary to assertions by some, the language also is not an infringement on Native American sovereignty or the right to determine citizenship. Indeed, the 1866 Treaties that each of the Tribes ratified limited the sovereignty and right to determine citizenship by including language that specifically abolished slavery within the 5 Tribes, set up provisions for tribal citizenship of the Freedmen, and introduced provisions dealing with land allotments.”
Vann said the Choctaw’s 1983 constitution was adopted in an election limited to voters who were descended from individuals listed as Choctaw by blood on the Dawes rolls. The Dawes rolls are federal lists of individuals accepted as eligible for tribal membership in the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole nations from 1898 until as late as 1914 as part of the process for allotting land.
“It is ironic that Mr. Batton speaks of unfairness when the Choctaw Nation blocked Freedmen from voting on a Constitution that stripped the Freedmen of their citizenship rights in violation of the Principal Chiefs Act and the 1866 treaty,” Vann writes.
She said appeals to tribal sovereignty echo arguments put forth in previous decades when Black citizens were disenfranchised and worse.
“For Mr. Batton to imply that the disenrollment was proper based on sovereignty is little different than Mississippi denying blacks to vote or go to the library (funded by the taxpayers) based on state’s rights,” Vann wrote.
Questioning Validity of Tribal Treaties?
In his letter to Pelosi, Batton appeared to dismiss or downplay the continuing validity of the 1866 treaty.
“It is untenable for Chairwoman Waters to ask the 116th Congress to reach back into indefensible and conflictive periods of history and impose just one portion of a treaty imposed upon the Choctaw Nation in 1866 without regard to the meandering mass of countervailing treaties, law and policy that followed the 1866 treaty,” Batton wrote. “Likewise, it would be both unseemly and unfair for Congress to take the extreme step of holding hostage housing assistance otherwise due the Choctaw Nation in 2020 until the Choctaw Nation complies with a provision of the 1866 Treaty, especially since the United States itself has wholly breached its obligations under many other provisions of the same 1866 Treaty.”
Batton’s criticism of the 1866 treaty came only months after the Choctaw Nation joined a brief (https://ift.tt/2EfdZQv) filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that cited the 1866 treaty and even older treaties.
In the 'McGirt v. Oklahoma' case, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately held that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation was never formally abolished. That ruling is expected to also apply to the Choctaw Nation and others, giving the five tribes significantly increased regulatory authority throughout much of eastern Oklahoma.
In the McGirt case, the Muskogee (Creek) Nation filed a brief (https://ift.tt/2EfdZQv) that specifically cited its 1866 treaty, which is similar to the one signed by the Choctaw Nation.
“Oklahoma’s claim that a Reservation was never established for the Nation in the Indian Territory is divorced from both text and history,” the Creek Nation brief stated. “The Treaty of 1866 expressly refers to the Nation’s Territory as a ‘Reservation.’ … That was no slip of the pen, but rather reflected the defining characteristics of the Creek territory.”
A brief (https://ift.tt/2EfdZQv ) filed in that case by the Choctaw Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, and other parties reached even further back into history, stating that the Choctaw Nation “exercises its Treaty right of self-government within the boundaries set forth in the 1855 Treaty.” The Choctaw brief also stated it and the Chickasaw Nation “hold their Reservations under treaty with the United States, see Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, Sept. 27, 1830.”
The Choctaw and Chickasaw nations’ U.S. Supreme Court brief also explicitly referenced the 1866 treaties, saying, “The Chickasaw Nation governs within the boundaries described in the 1855 and 1866 Treaties.” The tribes referenced their 1866 treaties again in the brief when discussing how the two tribes reached a settlement with the state of Oklahoma over water rights in “the Nations’ Reservations.”
Vann said the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt decision makes clear that “the 1866 Treaties remain valid,” and said any associated claim that the Choctaw Nation’s reservation status remains intact today is “based on the 1866 treaty—the last treaty signed between the U.S. government and the Choctaw nation.”
Batton said he supports efforts “to shape real and meaningful ways to address the systemic racism that continues to consign African Americans to economic under-privilege and discrimination long after the Emancipation Proclamation,” but objected to the Choctaw Nation being singled out.
“Today, it should shock the American conscience that Chairwoman Waters is asking Congress to force the Choctaw Nation to bear the heavy burden of repairing America’s breach with African Americans,” Batton wrote. “America should solve its own problems.”
But Vann argued the Choctaws’ role in systemic racism is neither insignificant nor fleeting.
She noted the 1860 federal Census showed there were 13,666 Choctaw Nation tribal members at that time who collectively owned 2,298 slaves. The Census found one Choctaw, Robert Jones, owned 230 slaves.
Vann also noted the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations’ treaties gave Freedmen smaller allotments of land than other tribal members, unlike the treaties signed by the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole nations.
When tribal property was allotted following the passage of federal laws in 1898 and 1902, Choctaw Freedmen received 40-acre allotments while other tribal members received 320-acre allotments, “including adopted whites,” Vann wrote. The rolls taken by the federal Dawes commission showed there were 17,488 Choctaws by blood at that time; 1,651 adopted whites; 6,029 Freedmen; and 1,660 Mississippi Choctaw members of the tribe.
“The Choctaw Freedmen and their descendants have suffered in deprivation and poverty — certainly in part due to racist laws passed at Oklahoma statehood but largely due to the Choctaw nation’s choice to abuse and enslave people solely due to their color and African ancestry,” Vann said.
NOTE: Ray Carter is director of the Center for Independent Journalism. The work of the center is hosted at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, where this report first appeared (https://www.ocpathink.org/post/slave-owning-past-remains-problem-for-choctaws). It is reposted here with permission.
Slave-owning past remains problem for Choctaws Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, released the following statement last Friday (August 14) regarding to the nation’s COVID-19 response and the use of Hydroxycholorquine:
“I became a State Representative because I love our state and the incredible people of Oklahoma.
“I have tremendous appreciation for our nation, which is the symbol of freedom throughout the world. Because of my passion for our country and state, I refuse to remain silent while the very foundation of our freedoms are being attacked and destroyed.
Our nation’s response to COVID-19 should produce fear in every person who stands for freedom, liberty and the United States.
“First, we must establish that China developed this virus. It was designed to infect overweight, diabetic, elderly people who have low immune systems. Where are the majority of overweight diabetic people found? That would be America!
“China knew about the outbreak of this virus and closed travel in their own country but continued to allow travel to the United States and the world. China begin buying up all personal protective equipment such as ventilators. When the virus was widespread, China made huge profits by infecting the world and selling protective and medical equipment. Let me run down all the facts that China has executed a biological and economic attack on our nation.
“It is critical that we address China for their war-like aggression, but we also must address the equally the illogical domestic response to this virus.
“Allow me to explain how our response has been irrational. A rational response would require that we compare COVID numbers and statistics to other similar viruses that have occurred in the U.S. for instance, like tuberculosis and the H1N1 flu. These viruses reveal much higher infections rates and higher fatalities, but we had no shutdowns, no masks or no massive quarantine. It seems very irrational to destroy our economy, increase civil unrest, increase suicides, increase drug abuse including drug overdoses, increase domestic abuse and destroy our nation’s food chains for a virus with a 98 percent survival rate.
"It is even more unreasonable to close churches but declare abortion clinics essential, close schools but allow riots, and allow one business to remain open serving thousands wile demanding small businesses close. However, absolutely the most insane response has been denying doctors and patients the right to treat COVID with Hydroxychloroquine. Why are most of the media and Facebook shutting down reports and trying to shame doctors and patients for speaking verified truth. This is called censorship, and it is a deliberate violation of our First Amendment rights. How insane is that?
“Finally I want to share my personal knowledge of Hydroxychloroquine. Sometime ago, I was having extreme trouble breathing. My chest hurt, and I struggled for every breath. I called doctors who all reported they would not test and would not treat. Each doctor’s office referred me to the state Health Department. In the course of preforming my job, I have been advised the Health Department is 35 percent inaccurate or just plain wrong in their testing. I would not go to the Health Department with those poor testing results. Plus, they do not treat COVID. In addition, I did not want to subject my family and friends to demands of forced house arrest by the Health Department.
"Instead, I found a very courageous doctor who is willing to risk her medical career to save lives. After days of suffering, I took Hydroxychloroquine along with a regiment of other medications. Within two and a half hours I was unbelievably better. My doctor demanded I lose weight and drop my blood sugar to continue treatment. I must add I am a cancer survivor, diabetic, overweight and have breathing issues.
"That means I am the 2 percent that dies from this virus. I am proud to say I lost over 30 pounds and significantly dropped my blood sugar. I am grateful for my doctor who I credit for saving my life.
"In closing, I am encouraging Oklahoma doctors to take courage and begin treating COVID with Hydroxychloroquine. I am asking Oklahomans to demand our state allow the use of Hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID.
“Let’s stop the fear, learn the facts and restore Oklahoma. God bless you, your family, Oklahoma and our magnificent Nation.”
State Rep. Justin Humphrey comments on COVID-19 and Hydroxycholorquine Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK |
Pat McGuiganThe dean of all Oklahoma Journalism, Mr Patrick McGuigan; has a rich history of service in many aspects of both covering the news and producing the information that the public needs to know. Archives
September 2021
Categories |