Articles
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Law & Principles
Groups across the political spectrum support students in free-speech lawsuit against OSU
The organization Speech First says OSU’s harassment, computer, and bias-incidents policies violate students’ constitutional rights. Several organizations from across the political spectrum are urging the court to preserve the plaintiff students’ anonymity.Ray Carter | June 19, 2023
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Law & Principles
Legislative compact expands tribe’s territory 109,000 percent
Because of a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, new state-tribal tobacco compacts drafted by state legislators could provide a gargantuan expansion of tribal territory. That change could result in hundreds of millions in existing state tax collections shifting to the control of a small sliver of tribal officials over time, and force non-Native Oklahomans to shoulder a larger tax burden to make up the difference.Ray Carter | June 15, 2023
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Budget & Tax
State land trust costing schools millions, report says
The current land trust system in Oklahoma, which was intended to generate revenue for state schools, is actually causing them to lose millions of dollars. According to a report by the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency, if the state sold the land held in trust by the Commissioners of the Land Office and invested the revenue, state schools could receive up to an additional $53 million per year.Ray Carter | June 15, 2023
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Law & Principles
Tribal chiefs chosen by few tribal members
Election results suggest that Gov. Kevin Stitt received far more raw votes from American Indian voters than the combined number of tribal citizens who have cast votes in favor of the elected chiefs of five major tribes.Ray Carter | June 14, 2023
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma Democrats praise Republicans’ veto override
The Oklahoma House of Representatives has voted to override Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto of legislation that would automatically renew existing state-tribal compacts that provide special breaks on the cost of car tags to Oklahomans based, to a large degree, on the owner’s race.Ray Carter | June 12, 2023
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Culture & the Family
SPLC says Oklahoma parent organizations are ‘hate’ groups
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has redefined the phrase “hate group” to include concerned parents. Says one U.S. senator, “the SPLC is a corrupt slush fund devoted to defamation.”Ray Carter | June 9, 2023
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Higher Education
OU fights public transparency
The University of Oklahoma has spent more than $1 million investigating claims of bogus financial reports and sexual harassment by David Boren, its former president who stepped down in 2018, but continues to stonewall efforts to make the findings public.Ray Carter | June 7, 2023
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Law & Principles
Stitt vetoes compact bills over state revenue concerns
Gov. Kevin Stitt has vetoed two bills that would extend existing state-tribal compacts on tobacco taxes and motor vehicle licenses, warning that those agreements fail to account for the impact of a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.Ray Carter | June 1, 2023
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Education, Law & Principles
Lawsuit says Edmond schools violated bathroom law
A recently filed lawsuit accuses officials at Edmond Public Schools of knowingly violating an Oklahoma law that requires schools to limit access to group bathrooms based on a student’s sex, which mandates that only girls may access women’s bathrooms and boys access men’s facilities at state schools.Ray Carter | May 31, 2023
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma Supreme Court continues pro-abortion rulings
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has declared two state laws restricting abortion to be unconstitutional, citing an earlier ruling in which the court declared abortion is a right granted by the Oklahoma Constitution despite the fact that the state constitution contains no language directly or implicitly addressing abortion.Ray Carter | May 31, 2023