Latest news with #OklahomaSupremeCourt
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Open primary proponents challenge Oklahoma law capping initiative petition signatures
Open primary supporters in Oklahoma have filed two lawsuits in the Oklahoma Supreme Court challenging a new state law that limits the number of initiative petition signatures that can be collected from a single county. One lawsuit asks the court to declare the "retroactive provision" of Senate Bill 1027 unconstitutional. The other lawsuit challenges the overall constitutionality of the bill. SB 1027, authored by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, mandates that the maximum number of signatures from a single county cannot exceed 11.5% of the number of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. For constitutional amendments, that maximum number is 20.8%. Opponents contend those limits disenfranchise voters, particularly in urban areas. More: Senate passes bill that places new restrictions on initiative petitions Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the bill into law, which was a priority for many GOP lawmakers this legislative session, on Friday, May 23. It took effect immediately. The bill comes as proponents of open primaries await a start date to begin collecting signatures for State Question 836, a measure that would open Oklahoma primary elections to all voters, with the top two candidates advancing to the general election. 'You don't have to agree with SQ 836 to see what's happening here is wrong,' said Dr. Ken Setter, a proponent of SQ 836 and a plaintiff in both lawsuits. 'Politicians should not be attempting to stop this measure by sabotaging it with unconstitutional laws. They should let the voters decide." The lawsuit challenging the bill's "retroactive" provision asks the court to temporarily block the law during litigation, arguing that attempting to comply with SB 1027 during such time will jeopardize signature-gatherers' ability to collect enough signatures to qualify their measure for the ballot. Supporters of SB 1027 have argued that the current process for state questions leaves out rural Oklahomans. In May, Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tulsa, said the bill gives more Oklahomans a voice in what qualifies for the ballot because signatures can't come solely from the state's biggest metro areas. Along with signature limits in single counties, SB 1027 also requires a petition's gist to be written in basic words explaining the measure. It requires petition circulators to be registered voters in Oklahoma and disclose the organization that's paying them. "All Oklahomans should know what they are voting on and who [is] behind the initiatives being pushed," Paxton, a co-author on the bill, said at the time. "I don't know how more transparency and more voices being heard in the process is a bad thing." Paxton, Bullard and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legal challenges. Anthony Stobbe, a plaintiff in both lawsuits and a registered independent, said that as a retired U.S. Coast Guard Commander, he served his country, "not a political party." He added that being politically independent is important to him, along with thousands of other veterans and active-duty military across Oklahoma. "Not being able to vote in Oklahoma's most meaningful elections is a slap in the face," Stobbe said in a news release. "Having an unconstitutional law try to block the very state question meant to fix that problem is even worse.' The lawsuit challenging SB 1027's overall constitutionality argues that the law infringes on the rights of Oklahomans to propose amendments to the state constitution through referendums. It also claims the law threatens restrictions on legislative authority, separation of powers, equal protection and political speech and association." 'Senate Bill 1027 is an outright attack on the people's right to govern themselves,' said Amy Cerato, a well-known opponent of the ACCESS Oklahoma turnpike project. 'I've been organizing to hold the government accountable for years, and I've never seen such a blatant power grab to silence Oklahomans' voices. This law is designed to make direct democracy in Oklahoma impossible.' This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Two lawsuits challenge Oklahoma's new initiative petition restrictions
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Controversial Oklahoma law affecting ballot initiatives draws legal challenges
File boxes containing the signatures of supporters of an initiative petition to increase the state's minimum wage are stacked Sept. 15, 2024, in front of an Oklahoma City building. (Photo courtesy of Raise the Wage Oklahoma) OKLAHOMA CITY – Legal challenges were filed Wednesday aimed at a recent law that puts more restrictions on the process voters use to get issues on the ballot. The suits were filed with the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Gov. Kevin Stitt in May signed Senate Bill 1027, which took effect immediately. The new law requires those circulating a petition for a statutory change to get signatures that amount to no more than 11.5% of the votes cast in a single county in the most recent gubernatorial election. The threshold increases to 20.8% for a constitutional amendment. The law effectively forces signature gatherers to visit several Oklahoma counties rather than concentrating on high-population areas. Prior to the law, there were no restrictions or caps on signatures from any county. Under the new law, those seeking to place items on the ballot would be prohibited from paying petition circulators based on the number of signatures collected. The law requires sources of payment to circulators to be disclosed and bars out-of-state interests from donating. Petition circulators would have to be registered voters. It requires a political appointee, the Secretary of State, to approve the gist, which is the brief summary of the ballot measure that voters see at the top of the signature sheet. One suit challenges the overall constitutionality of the law, saying it imposes an undue burden. The suit seeks to put the law on hold until the legal dispute is resolved. It says the law effectively nullifies 'the right of the initiative petition' and violates the First Amendment. It slashes the available signature pool by 95%, 'making ballot qualification virtually impossible while advancing no legitimate state interest,' the suit said. The suit was filed by two proponents of State Question 836, which seeks to make Oklahoma primaries open. A rural voter and a member of a group that has been highly critical of plans to build a turnpike in the Norman area also are plaintiffs. Secretary of State Josh Cockroft and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond as defendants in both suits. The second suit challenges the ability to make the law retroactive. A petition seeking to open the state's primaries, State Question 836, is already in the works and was filed before the measure became law. 'This law doesn't just bend the rules in favor of powerful politicians — it breaks them entirely for Oklahoma voters,' said Dr. Ken Setter, a plaintiff in both suits and proponent of State Question 836. 'Oklahoma's Constitution gives us the right to petition our government. Senate Bill 1027 strips that right away.' The new law gives the executive branch veto power over citizen initiatives, the suit said. The measure makes it more difficult and costly to get an issue on the ballot and would deter future efforts, the suit said. When State Question 836 was filed, there were no geographic requirements for signatures and no caps, the suit said. 'Retroactive application of SB 1027 substantially undercuts Oklahoma citizens' ability to exercise their reserved right of initiative petition,' the suit says. The initiative petition process has been used to expand Medicaid, enact criminal justice reform and legalize medical marijuana. Lawmakers have repeatedly declined to expand Medicaid or legalize medical marijuna. Supporters of the new law have said it is needed to garner more input from rural counties and to prevent fraud. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma Voice reporters win awards for reporting, photography at state contest
The Oklahoma Voice logo is pictured. (Oklahoma Voice image) SHAWNEE — Oklahoma Voice over the weekend took home seven awards, including two first place honors, at the Oklahoma Press Association's annual contest. Oklahoma Voice, a nonprofit outlet that focuses on state government coverage, participated in the largest circulation category in the contest that honored the top journalism produced across the state in 2024. Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel took home first place in the 'Education' category for her reporting that explored how Superintendent Ryan Walters went from 'excited' to 'disgusted' over the social studies standards he helped create. The contest judge said Martinez-Keel provided a 'well written' story that turned a news story into a great news feature. Martinez-Keel also won second place for that reporting in the 'Education Story' category. Editor Janelle Stecklein won first place for column writing for a trio of opinion pieces about Walters' quest to spend $3 million to put Bibles in school classrooms. The second column questioned why Oklahoma has unenforceable laws pertaining to the collection of required data about who is using a state-owned aircraft and why. While the third criticized lawmakers' decision to pass a 'Bill of Rights' to define gender even while women's outcomes lag. The judge said the opinion pieces had 'good voice and (provided) strong commentary on a variety of topics' and had 'strong use of supporting information to make a point.' Senior Reporter Barbara Hoberock won third place in the Feature Story for her interview and story about Yvonne Kauger that highlighted the legacy of the first Oklahoma Supreme Court justice in state history that voters ousted from office. 'When I finished this feature, I knew (Yvonne) Kauger and wanted to meet her,' the judge wrote. 'Good job.' Hoberock also won second place in the News Story category for her reporting about state leaders' unexplained decision to redact information about who in the Governor's Office has been using a state plane for travel and not maintaining purpose of those flights, which appears to flout state law. The judge wrote that Hoberock wrote a 'very detailed story of potential abuse that could happen anywhere.' Martinez-Keel also won second place in the news photography category for her photograph of a mother being arrested at a State Board of Education meeting. Audra Beasley refused to leave the meeting while complaining about poor access for people with disabilities at the State Department of Education. She also won third place in the 'In-depth Reporting' category for her extensive coverage of education leaders' decision to quietly lower the test score benchmarks that students must meet to be deemed proficient in math and reading. The changes to the cut scores caused student proficiency rates to jump by up to third even as academic gains were stagnant. Her reporting on the topic won top honors in the competitive national Education Writers Association contest earlier this year. 'Really in-depth reporting on how an education department making a move is more about appearances than really improving education,' the judge wrote. 'Well done.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Int'l Business Times
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Tulsa Race Massacre's Last Survivors Will Not Receive Direct Payments in Mayor's Reparations Plan
The last two known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre will not receive direct payments from a $105 million reparations package recently announced by the Oklahoma city's mayor. Tulsa's first black mayor, Monroe Nichols, announced the $105 million "Road to Repair" project on Sunday, aiming to tackle lasting socioeconomic disparities caused by rioting white mobs in 1921 in the Greenwood neighborhood as well as the wider North Tulsa community. The project aims to collect $105 million in assets, including private contributions, property transfers and potential public funding, in order to create the Greenwood Trust, a private charitable trust. The goal is to collect the sum by the 105th anniversary of the massacre, which will occur next spring, reported the New York Times. However, the last two known survivors of the massacre, who are 110 and 111 years old, are not set to receive direct cash payments from the project. City spokesperson Michelle Brooks told the outlet that direct payments for the two survivors are not off the table, as they could be considered and granted by the trust's Board of Trustees. The two survivors, Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher, brought their grievances to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2024, stating that the lingering socioeconomic problems left behind by the massacre constituted a public nuisance. However, the court dismissed the case, Oklahoma Voice reported at the time. "One hundred and four years is far too long for us to not address the harm of the massacre," Nichols told NYT, adding that they wanted to focus on "what has been taken on a people, and how do we restore that as best we can in 2025, proving we're much different than we were in 1921." Nichols announced the formation of the trust fund at the city's first Tulsa Race Massacre Observance Day, stating that the plan to restore the prosperous neighborhood of Greenwood was incredibly belated. Originally published on Latin Times
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Business courts could soon be established in Oklahoma. Critics are worried.
A bill designed to establish business courts in Oklahoma — a key part of the Republican-led Legislature's budget agreement with Gov. Kevin Stitt — sailed through both chambers on what figures to be the penultimate day of the four-month legislative session. Senate Bill 632 has seen multiple iterations and ridden a proverbial legislative roller coaster during that time, but it now has ended up on Stitt's desk, awaiting his signature. On the morning of Wednesday, May 28, the Senate approved the bill 39-7. Later in the day, the House sent the legislation to the governor's desk in a 77-12 vote. The creation of courts designed to handle complex business litigation long has been a goal of Stitt, as he believes the existence of such courts will help make Oklahoma appear more friendly to potential businesses looking for a place to locate. Critics have said having business courts could raise the specter of those courts providing preferential treatment to businesses over people seeking to sue them for alleged wrongdoing. They've also noted that by creating the courts, the Legislature is supporting an expansion of government, a point noted Wednesday by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, a leader of the Senate's far-right members. Bullard asked Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, who was presenting the bill, 'Are we growing government or shrinking it?' Howard eventually acknowledged it was growing government, and Bullard eventually voted in favor of the bill. One far-right senator, Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, joined six of the Senate's eight Democrats in voting against the bill. The legislation would create a business court in any judicial district in Oklahoma containing a county with a population of more than 500,000 — essentially, Oklahoma and Tulsa counties. Howard said the physical location of the two courts would be worked out between the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services. The salary of a business court judge will be the same as that of an associate justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Currently, that's $161,112, but a bill that's not yet been acted upon by Stitt would raise that number to $185,612. According to an analysis by the Administrative Office of the Courts, the business court system will cost taxpayers about $2 million to establish. Opponents of the bill have pointed out that the court system would also cost millions of dollars a year to run. The business courts would focus on disputes regarding Oklahoma's complex business laws, including securities, trade secrets, professional malpractice, contracts, commercial property, intra-business disputes and e-commerce. Under the legislation, for an issue to be considered by the court, the amount in controversy must be $500,000 or more. The bill also would require any non-jury trial in a business court to be resolved within 12 months. Any party can transfer a legal case into the business court if a district judge determines the business court has subject-matter jurisdiction over the case. The bill, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, had a long journey through the Capitol. Its stops included hearings by four committees, House amendments to the bill that were rejected by the Senate, and two conference committee reports, including one that was rejected on May 22. Members of both chambers on the conference committees agreed on the bill's final language on Tuesday, May 27. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What is a business court? Oklahoma poised to establish with SB 632
