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OKLAHOMA CITY (October 14, 2024)—Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Jonathan Small today issued a statement in response to a false suggestion made about OCPA during a House legislative study on the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC).

During the Oct. 9 meeting, state Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, asked, “My understanding is that opponents to the JNC or people or groups seeking to have the JNC abolished or changed considerably were invited to participate and they either declined or they did not respond. Is that correct? I wanted to make sure that we got that on the record so that we know that this wasn’t stacked.”

State Rep. Erick Harris, an Edmond Republican who ran the study, responded, “That is correct.”

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs has been a leading advocate for replacing the secretive JNC process for selecting Oklahoma judges. OCPA has urged lawmakers to instead replace the JNC with a system based on the U.S. Constitution’s model for judicial selection. That system would allow for gubernatorial nomination of any qualified candidate with legislative confirmation required.

“OCPA was asked to participate in this study—but only if we would not advocate for abolishing the JNC,” Small said. “If we were not allowed to provide serious policy prescriptions, we saw no point in participating. The pro-JNC propaganda theater performed at the hearing shows we were right to decline. The false innuendo put forth in Representative Osburn and Harris’ exchange was simply the high point of the performance.

“If this wasn’t a ‘stacked’ study,” Small concluded, “I wonder what one looks like.”