Judicial Reform

Oklahoma Supreme Court applicants include Democratic donors

January 17, 2025

Ray Carter

In the November 2024 general election, Oklahoma voters chose to oust Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger with a majority opposing her retention.

That opened a spot on the court. Three nominees will soon be selected by the secretive Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and forwarded to Gov. Kevin Stitt, who will be limited to choosing only one of those three candidates to serve on the Oklahoma Supreme Court under the state’s current judicial-appointment system.

While the vote to oust Kauger, who was first appointed by a Democratic governor, may represent voters wanting a Republican governor to have the chance to make a court appointment, records indicate that at least five of the 14 individuals who have applied with the Judicial Nominating Commission have previously contributed to the political campaigns of Democratic candidates or to or to a political action committee that funded Democrats.

Under Oklahoma’s current system, the JNC selects up to three nominees for court positions, including the Oklahoma Supreme Court, in secret. The group does not hold public meetings and does not provide any public records of its votes, even raw-number tallies. The governor is required to select one of the three candidates put forward by the JNC and cannot consider any other qualified individuals.

Of the 15 members of the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission, six are appointed by the Oklahoma Bar Association via internal membership elections. No other attorneys are allowed to serve.

Public records show that an overwhelming majority of bar appointees to the JNC since 2000 have directed most of their campaign donations to Democrats, raising questions about the group’s ability to vet and choose judicial nominees aligned with a conservative judicial philosophy when a Republican governor is in office.

Of the 14 individuals who have applied with the JNC for the open Oklahoma Supreme Court position, public records indicate that several applicants have financially supported Democratic candidates’ campaigns or contributed to a political action committee (PAC) that supported Democrats.

Jon Keith Parsley of Guymon has been a district court judge for Texas, Cimarron, Beaver, and Harper counties since his appointment in 2014.

According to records on the Open Secrets website, a comprehensive resource for campaign contributions, Parsley contributed to the congressional campaign of Democrat Ben Odom in 1998; the state legislative race of Democrat Lisa Pryor in 2004; former state Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman in 2005; and the Democratic gubernatorial campaigns of both Jari Askins and Drew Edmondson in 2010.

While the online campaign finance records maintained by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission go back only to 2015, the records at the Open Secrets website go back further.

Once seated, judges are generally expected to refrain from making public political donations to campaigns.

Despite Parsley having apparently been a contributor to the 2010 Democratic opponent of former Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, Parsley was nominated by the JNC for the district court judgeship and was among the three names Fallin had to select from when filling the seat in 2014.

Lawrence “Lance” Elmer Schneiter IV of Okarche currently serves as an associate district judge for Kingfisher County, having been elected to that position in 2018. Prior to serving as a judge, records indicate that Schneiter contributed to the campaign of former state Rep. Collin Walke, D-Oklahoma City, in 2013, as well as the 2014 state senate campaign of John Handy Edwards, a Democrat seeking an Oklahoma City seat.

Spencer Tracy Habluetzel, an attorney from Wheatland, made contributions to Citizens for Justice (in 2016, 2018, and 2022), a trial-lawyers’ PAC that funded a wide range of legislative candidates’ campaigns, including many Democrats, according to Oklahoma Ethics Commission records.

In the 2024 campaign cycle alone, reports filed with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission show that Citizens for Justice contributed to the campaigns of state Sen. Jo Anna Dossett, D-Tulsa; state Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Oklahoma City; state Rep. Ellyn Hefner, D-Oklahoma City; state Rep. Annie Menz, D-Norman; state Rep. Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City; state Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa; state Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, D-Norman; state Rep. Susanne Schrieber, D-Tulsa; state Sen. Mary Boren, D-Tulsa; state Sen. Michael Brooks, D-Oklahoma City; and state Rep. Jason Lowe, D-Oklahoma City.

Michelle Kirby-Roper of Elk City has been an associate district judge in Beckham County since 2010. Prior to her judicial election, Open Secrets indicates that she contributed to the political campaign of former state Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City. (Contribution records list an Oklahoma City address for Kirby-Roper at that time.)

Similarly, records show that Nisha Moreau, an Edmond attorney, contributed to the lieutenant governor campaign of Democrat Jari Askins in 2006.

According to a release issued by the Judicial Nominating Commission, the group’s secret process for reviewing applicants is now underway.