Articles
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Health Care, Law & Principles
OSMA brief: ‘pregnant people’ deserve ‘abortion care’
The Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA) has joined an amici curiae brief calling for Oklahoma’s abortion laws to be struck down, declaring those restrictions violate the Oklahoma Constitution’s guarantee of the “right to life.”Ray Carter | September 28, 2022
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Education, Law & Principles
Lankford targets teacher union’s charter
U.S. Sen. James Lankford has filed legislation to strip the National Education Association of its federal charter.Ray Carter | September 20, 2022
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Law & Principles
Tired old pay-to-play criticism falls flat
The politically paranoid always find conspiracies among those on the other side of the political divide, and that tired old pay-to-play criticism falls flat.Jonathan Small & Ryan Haynie | September 15, 2022
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Education, Law & Principles
Transgender bathroom issue extends beyond urban core
Recent controversies regarding the transgender bathroom policies in public schools are not isolated to urban districts or schools in university towns but are cropping up far from Oklahoma’s urban core.Ray Carter | September 8, 2022
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Education, Law & Principles
School bathroom regs adopted; Hofmeister voices concern
Members of the State Board of Education voted to approve emergency regulations that restrict school bathrooms to members of one sex, although State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister addressed transgender concerns even as she voted in favor of the new regulations.Ray Carter | August 25, 2022
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Law & Principles
Tribes reverse course from their prior McGirt arguments
Several tribes that celebrated the McGirt ruling are effectively doing a 180-degree pivot by urging federal judges to reverse course and rule that an 1898 law impacting Oklahoma reservations is no longer in effect.Ray Carter | August 22, 2022
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Education, Law & Principles
Stitt seeks teacher protection against union pressure
Citing both a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a provision of the Oklahoma Constitution, Gov. Kevin Stitt is calling on State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister and members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education to ensure teachers are informed of their rights to decline union membership and payment of associated union fees.Ray Carter | August 19, 2022
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Law & Principles
Tribes’ alleged treaty violations focus of Senate hearing
The history of federal-tribe relations is littered with tales of broken treaties. But a U.S. Senate hearing flipped the typical script this week as lawmakers considered whether five Oklahoma tribes have been violating their treaties for more than 100 years by denying citizenship to the descendants of their former black slaves.Ray Carter | July 28, 2022
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Education, Law & Principles
Hofmeister suggests law violated; review shows otherwise
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister recently suggested competitive-bidding requirements have been evaded for a program supported by Gov. Kevin Stitt. But an agency review quickly proved otherwise.Ray Carter | July 21, 2022
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Law & Principles
Effort to stymie OCPA news coverage won’t work
An Oklahoma lawmaker (technically, his spouse) recently resorted to filing a bogus victim protective order against an OCPA journalist. If the intent was to deter OCPA from providing news coverage on lawmakers’ activities, it failed.Ray Carter | July 20, 2022