2023 Open Meeting/Open Records seminar

Open Meeting, Open Records seminars to be held across Oklahoma this fall

OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 3, 2024) – After overwhelming success in 2023, the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General is partnering again with the Oklahoma Press Association to host seminars on the state’s open meeting and open records laws in five locations across Oklahoma beginning late this month.

The seminars will be presented by Thomas R. Schneider, deputy general counsel to Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

U.S. Supreme Court should take Oklahoma case

This year the Oklahoma Supreme Court declared the Catholic Church cannot sponsor the proposed St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, declaring the church would be a “state actor” using taxpayer funds for religious purposes.

The case could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Oklahomans should hope justices agree to take up this important case.

There are good policy reasons to hope St. Isidore ultimately prevails.

Democrat judges defy Oklahoma’s GOP trend

In the last 30 years, Republican candidates have been elected Oklahoma governor in 75 percent of races.

But nearly half of the members of the Oklahoma Supreme Court—four of nine justices—were appointed by Democratic governors. And those Democratic appointees have been retained by Oklahoma voters even as those same voters overwhelmingly vote for GOP candidates in presidential and statewide races.

The persistence of Democratic judicial appointees on Oklahoma’s top court contrasts with the pattern in two of the nation’s fastest-growing states where voters have largely supported Republican candidates in statewide races.

In Florida, as in Oklahoma, Republican candidates have been elected in 75 percent of the eight gubernatorial races conducted from 1994 to today. But all seven current members of the Florida Supreme Court were appointed by Republican governors. [Two members of the Florida court were appointed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was elected governor as a Republican in 2006 but became an independent in 2010 while running for U.S. Senate and eventually became a Democrat in 2012.]

In Texas, where justices are directly elected, all nine members of the Texas Supreme Court are registered Republicans.

In Oklahoma, judicial nominees are selected by the secretive Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC). The JNC selects up to three nominees for court positions, including the Oklahoma Supreme Court, and the governor then makes an appointment from that list.

The JNC’s membership is substantially determined by the Oklahoma Bar Association, and public records show that 22 of the 32 individuals appointed to the JNC by the Oklahoma Bar Association from 2000 to today (nearly 69 percent) have directed most of their campaign donations to Democrats, including to presidential candidates like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Only one bar appointee to the JNC since 2000 overwhelmingly donated to Republican candidates.

The JNC’s structure tilts the judicial nominating process in favor of Democrat-aligned judges, particularly when the governor who makes the final selection is a Democrat.

However, judges are subject to retention ballot elections, which is supposed to allow the public to have input into the process.

But a lack of public information had made those elections virtually meaningless.

“What information would Oklahoma voters have on how judges are doing their job?” said Andrew Spiropoulos, the Robert S. Kerr, Sr. Professor of Constitutional Law at Oklahoma City University. “They’re not regularly involved in the legal system and so their presumption is that judges are doing their job and if that wasn’t the case someone would tell them.”

The Democratic appointees to the Oklahoma Supreme Court are Douglas Combs, Noma Gurich, Yvonne Kauger, and James Edmondson.

In 2012, all four Democratic appointees to the Oklahoma Supreme Court were on a retention ballot and received the support of more than 65 percent of voters each, even as two out of three Oklahoma voters supported the election of Republican Mitt Romney in that year’s presidential election.

While Democratic President Barack Obama received only 443,547 votes from Oklahomans that year, the three Democratic appointees to the Oklahoma Supreme Court received 775,016 to 792,216 pro-retention votes apiece.

In 2016, Combs was retained with nearly 59 percent of the vote even as nearly two-in-three Oklahoma voters supported Donald Trump’s election as president and Republican James Lankford was re-elected U.S. senator with nearly 68 percent of the vote.

Only 420,375 Oklahomans voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton that year and just 355,911 voted for the Democratic candidate in the U.S. Senate race, but Democratic appointee Combs was retained on the Oklahoma Supreme Court with 760,927 votes.

When Gurich, Kauger, and Edmondson were last on a retention ballot in 2018, they were supported by 59 percent to 62 percent of voters apiece, even as Oklahomans elected Republican Kevin Stitt as governor. Stitt received 644,579 votes to the 500,973 votes cast for his Democratic opponent, but the three Democratic appointees to the Oklahoma Supreme Court received 611,334 to 637,315 pro-retention votes each.

In 2022, Combs was again retained with the support of 628,893 voters, or 61 percent of the vote, even as Stitt was re-elected with 639,484 votes. As a Democratic appointee to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Combs received nearly 147,000 more votes for retention than the Democratic gubernatorial nominee received that year.

Why do Oklahomans vote for Republicans candidates in presidential and statewide races while giving strong majority support to Democratic appointees to the Oklahoma Supreme Court?

In part, it’s because few Oklahomans are aware those justices are Democratic appointees.

“They don’t see any partisan listing on the ballot,” Spiropoulos said. “And to be truthful, Oklahomans get very little information on how judges do their jobs.”

Because of the lack of information, it is possible that many voters believe Oklahoma Supreme Court justices are conservatives, given that Republicans hold all statewide offices and supermajorities in the Oklahoma Legislature.

In other states and cities around the country, Spiropoulos said judicial evaluation commissions are common and provide public information on judicial performance.

But that has not been the norm in Oklahoma.

However, this year the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs has created what may be the most comprehensive judicial review site in state history, providing information on members of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The Oklahoma Judicial Scorecard can be viewed at www.oklajudges.com.

Under business-as-normal in Oklahoma, when voters are provided almost no information on judges facing retention, judges are seldom removed from office because few voters have even basic information about those jurists. Only individuals who make headlines for bad behavior face any consequences, and those cases typically involve behavior so extreme that the judge made national headlines.

Critics have long argued Oklahomans should have higher standards for members of the state judiciary than “don’t embarrass us on a national scale.”

“If a judge goes insane, or shoots somebody like we’re trying to deal with right now, have sex with your bailiff, they’ll remove you for that; the texting on the bench,” Spiropoulos said. “If a judge does something that’s publicly terrible, we have judicial discipline. But that’s the only time we remove a judge.”

Article authored by Ray Carter of the Center for Independent Journalism. Re-published by permission.

With less than 60 days remaining until Election Day 2024, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) has stepped up to help with a traditionally difficult and under-informed aspect of Oklahoma elections: the judicial retention ballot on Supreme Court justices and Criminal and Civil Appeals Court judges.

At OklaJudges.com, OCPA evaluates Oklahoma Supreme Court justices based on their decisions on various cases that came before their bench.

This year, three Supreme Court justices will be up for a retention vote;  'yes' vote keeps them on the Court, while a 'no' vote would remove them - something that has yet to happen since the retention system was put in place in the 1960s. The justices on the ballot will be James Edmondson, Noma D. Gurich, and Yvonne Kauger. 

Also on the ballot will be Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals judges David B. Lewis, William J. Musseman, and Scott Rowland. Unfortunately, the OCPA Oklahoma Judicial Scorecard does not cover the appeals courts, so those judges will continue to be a bit harder to research, but this is a positive step forward in voter transparency and education!

L-R: State Rep. Kevin West and State. Rep Tom Gann

OKLAHOMA CITY (September 5th) – Reps. Kevin West, R-Moore, and Tom Gann, R-Inola, today issued statements regarding Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett, who has been accused of sexual molestation and public drunkenness. The two said they are considering filing a writ of prohibition against Hiett, asking the courts to intervene to protect the public interest.

Drummond joins Congressman Brecheen and State Senator Burns in opposing the proposed hydroelectric plant on the Kiamichi River.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 5, 2024) -- Attorney General Gentner Drummond is urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to deny an application from the Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation (SEOPC) to build a hydroelectric power plant on the Kiamichi River in Pushmataha County.

In a letter sent last week to the FERC, Drummond said SEOPC has provided only limited information to the commission and noted that the corporation has not requested the proper state licenses or permits for the project. The power plant would have a transmission line extending through Pushmataha and McCurtain counties to provide power for Texas.

Drummond said the project appears to be inconsistent with numerous mechanisms in the State’s Water Settlement Agreement with the Choctaw Nation and the Chickasaw Nation that are intended to preserve the flow of the Kiamichi River and protect the region.

“As the chief law officer of the State of Oklahoma, I will not tolerate violation of Oklahoma law or flagrant disregard for the sovereignty or federal law, protected rights of a tribal nation and similarly situated property owners,” wrote the Attorney General in the letter.

SEOPC has indicated it intends to rely on powers of condemnation to acquire private property from Oklahomans to build the power plant.

“Most of the proud Oklahomans who call the Kiamichi region home have lived there for generations,” Drummond wrote. “I intend, as Oklahoma’s Attorney General, to ensure that their private property rights are safeguarded to the full extent of the law.”

Further, Drummond indicated that SEOPC has not considered the implications of its project under federal law including the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Clean Water Act.

Read the full letter to the FERC.

Some good education news, for a change:

Tulsa, Okla (September 5th) – State Superintendent Ryan Walters today was joined by Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson today to announce a federal grant totaling $58,949,098 over a five-year period that will support reading and literacy programs across Oklahoma public schools. In the 2024-25 academic year, approximately $9 million will be disseminated to public schools that apply and qualify through a competitive grant process. 

“When I started this job, I made a promise to the people of Oklahoma that we would get back to the basics of education, that we would eliminate the political activism and social indoctrination in the classroom and return focus on teaching our kids the skills they need to succeed in college and the workplace,” Walters said. This grant will be a powerful supplement to the work we are already doing and offers us incredible resources to build upon the foundation we’ve built that prioritizes reading, writing, math and other critical disciplines that will enable our kids to compete and succeed wherever their dreams take them. I want to thank the lawmakers and superintendents who joined us today. I am grateful for their work and dedication to our joint mission of improving education outcomes for all Oklahoma students.” 

As part of this initiative, 25 districts across Oklahoma will receive sub-grants to directly support the implementation of literacy programs tailored to their unique student populations. These sub-grants will enable schools to enhance their literacy instruction, provide targeted interventions, and foster a stronger foundation in language arts for their students.

The project will focus on achieving the following key goals: 

• Early Language Development: Increase the percentage of four-year-old children who achieve significant gains in oral language skills. This will be measured through universal screening tools, diagnostic assessments, and formative assessment processes. 
• Elementary Literacy Proficiency: Increase the percentage of fifth-grade students who meet or exceed proficiency levels on the Oklahoma state reading/language arts assessment. 
• Middle School Literacy Proficiency: Increase the percentage of eighth-grade students who meet or exceed proficiency levels on the Oklahoma state reading/language arts assessment. 
• Teacher Training and Professional Development: Provide Oklahoma teachers with extensive training in the science of reading and effective literacy instructional strategies to ensure high-quality literacy education across the state. 

The grant awarded to OSDE is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant Program which exists to advance literacy skills, reading, and writing for students from birth through grade 12, including limited-English-proficient students and students with disabilities. 

State Sen. Dusty Deevers joins State Rep. Justin Humphrey in criticizing a report from Gov. Stitt's task force on work permits and visas for non-citizens, with concerns over how the task force recommendations may apply to illegal immigrants.

OKLAHOMA CITY (September 4th) – Last week, the Oklahoma State Work Permits and Visas Task Force published their report, making several recommendations to the legislature for immigration-related bills. Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, spoke forthrightly against the recommendations and encouraged his fellow legislators to do likewise.

“As legislators, we must look out first and foremost for the well-being of Oklahomans,” Deevers said. “I’m afraid these recommendations fail to do that.”

The Task Force’s first recommendation was an Office of New Oklahomans, pointing to Utah’s Center for New Americans as a good example.

OKLAHOMA CITY (September 3rd) – Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, today issued the following statements about the recommendations of the Oklahoma State Work Permits and Visas Task Force, which was created by Gov. Kevin Stitt via an executive order signed April 30.

"I recently was notified about the work of Governor Stitt's Oklahoma State Work Permits and Visas Task Force, which was charged with evaluating and making recommendations to allow immigrants to have visas, permits and documentation to pursue the American dream, contribute to our workforce, and for Oklahoma universities and industries to recruit and legally retain global talent without fear of unnecessary deportation or separation from family safely and legally.

"I lack the vocabulary skills to properly express my anger on this order. The American dream is swiftly being stripped from our children by our own U.S. and state governments. The Oklahoma State Work Permits and Visas Task Force plan appears to do just that: steal Oklahomans’ American dream and give it to illegals.

Washington, D.C. –  As the summer district work-period ends, Congressman Josh Brecheen has now hosted 106 in-person town halls during his first term in Congress.