Citizen of the Year

2021 Citizen of the Year: Liza Greve

12/22/2021

The COTY committee of SoonerPolitics is pleased to announce our 2021 Citizen of the Year, Liza Greve. Liza is a founder & executive director of Oklahomans for Health & Parental Rights.

The grassroots group has been especially active in the past 6 years;

advocating for parental authority to properly care for their children without govt. interference.
educating the public and elected officials about the realistic limitations and risks associated with medical therapies.
helping parents understand their rights and responsibilities.

Human rights have been under a severe attack from government officials and in the marketplace. This is nothing new for some folks whose health requires special care and responsible management. Some are developing children, and others have complexed and difficult decisions where there is no clear & safe option.
This current threat to human rights is especially onerous to children. They are statistically the least vulnerable to a covid fatality, yet their bodies are very much endangered by the blood clotting dangers of the experimental gene therapies. The advocates of OKHPR are even more passionate about their children's health & wellbeing than for themselves.

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2020 Citizen of the Year: Frank Urbanic

12/26/2020

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Civil Rights Attorney, Frank Urbanic, is our 2020 Citizen of the year for his efforts to hold state and local govt to respect and defend the federal & state Constitutions in their official duties.
In a year like none other, 2020 is a memory we are all destined to never forget(sadly). But in times of trial, peril, and tyranny, those who remind us of our civilization's founding principles are especially to be valued. Those who rise up to champion the cause of individual liberty, societal virtue, and advancement of prosperity; they are to be esteemed.
When we knew so little about a global virus from a Chinese laboratory, our nation had to revisit our founding principles and put them to the test.
When Governor Stitt first ordered a ban on large gatherings of people, Frank Urbanic researched official state documents and discovered some very troubling data. Urbanic published a blog post on his law firm's website, indicating that the governor seemed to have essentially declared that a state of widespread riot is endangering the state. At least that is the implication of the Attorney general's legal notices.
SoonerPolitics reposted the article on Thursday, April 2nd, and within hours the governor changed course and properly invoked a "Health Emergency Act" declaration, & submitting a request of the legislature to grant him 30 days of special powers with legislative oversight. As those 30 days came to an end, the governor was celebrated nationally as an example of how a state gets back up on it's feet and thriving.

"I became a criminal defense attorney because I’m intimately familiar with how precious our constitutional rights are." - Attorney Frank Urbanic

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2019 Citizen of the Year: Don Spencer

12/28/2019

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2019 was a long time in coming, for Don Spencer. The retiree had always been a passionate and principled advocate for constitutional respect for personal rights of self defense and citizen empowerment. But this year Don was able to gather together so many advocates toward a common cause and pathway for success.
I was with him in January when common citizens did what the elected officers could not do.. Defeat an overreach of the State's Ethics Commission. they were slated to enact some oppressive requirements on our constitutional rights of redress of grievance and petitioning of govt. Don and so many others did their part to tell these un-elected bureaucrats that they have forgotten their place and their limited mandate. We prevailed.
In February he had a docket of bills authored by collaborative lawmakers to restore major 2nd amendment rights to keep and bear arms. His efforts for Permitless Carry turned into Governor Stitt's 1st signing of a new law. It was a repeal of onerous restrictions on peaceable citizens.
A collection of other laws then followed, but none will be as big as Permitless Carry.
Don showed he wasn't sheepish about establishing his rights in the face of police threats. He stared into the faces of more than a half dozen real and pretend cops at the Tulsa OctoberFest. While the cops blocked his armed entry, he's still assessing a lawsuit option, based on the video evidence he methodically keeps at every expected confrontation.

Don Spencer, on his way from a successful day at the Oklahoma Supreme Court, on a cold morning, last fall.

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2018 Citizen of the Year: Ronald E. Durbin II

12/20/2018

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Attorney Ronald Durbin thought he was done with politics when he relocated to Oklahoma from his native Mississippi. He had been an associate to many notable political figures in the ascendancy of Hayley Barber, Trent Lott & others.
In Oklahoma he wanted to practice law & advocate for the restoration of those seeking justice. For years Mr. Durbin has litigated & negotiated resolutions in Oklahoma's courts, board rooms, and in govt. agencies.
But last spring he was asked to collaborate with a citizens group who was seeking a new ballot initiative to restore a measure of liberty for the citizens of this state. He ended up being the state's most consistent legal advocate for a just implementation of a new law for cannabis medicine treatments.
When political activists had completed a successful campaign for SQ788 and won a major victory, Ron Durbin was just starting his most impacting work as a defender of the new law.
While entrenched state agencies were conspiring to sabotage the rollout of patient rights and treatment options, Durbin met them at every turn. He forced the State Board of Health to cease & desist. He drew the Attorney General into the battle on the side of constitutional limits of agency powers. He guided the legislative discourse in the first two weeks of a historic bicameral interim study.

Ronald E. Durbin II is our 2018 Citizen of the Year.

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2021 Citizen of the Year: Liza Greve

2020 Citizen of the Year: Frank Urbanic

2019 Citizen of the Year: Don Spencer

2018 Citizen of the Year: Ronald E. Durbin II