Search Results
Team Members
Showing 421 to 440 of 561 article results for “supreme court”
-
Law & Principles
Oklahoma Supreme Court hears arguments over authority of SQ 640
Supreme Court Justices listened to attorneys argue about whether State Question 640 applies to several revenue-raising measures passed in the final days of the 2017 legislative session.Jay Chilton | August 9, 2017
-
OCPA President Jonathan Small responds to Oklahoma Bar Association hypocrisy
In a recent news story, the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA) criticized the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) for noting OBA bias against former Oklahoma Attorney General and current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt.August 3, 2017
-
Law & Principles
Playground fight ends at Supreme Court
Trinity Lutheran Church operates a preschool in Boone County, Missouri. The state, to encourage tire recycling and improve safety for children, gives grants for resurfacing playgrounds with rubber made from ground-up old tires.Trent England | June 27, 2017
-
Budget & Tax, Law & Principles
OCPA announces intent to file Supreme Court challenge of income tax increase
“Here at OCPA, we’ve consistently offered hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of options for addressing the state’s budget shortfall and preserving core services without raising taxes on Oklahomans. We continue to stand with hard-working taxpayers in favor of efficient government services and in defense of the state Constitution.”May 22, 2017
-
Education
Keep education–and choice–in the states
The election of Donald Trump as president and the confirmation of longtime school choice leader Betsy DeVos as education secretary are ushering in a major debate about using the federal government to promote school choice.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | April 1, 2017
-
Criminal Justice
Next Steps for Criminal Justice Reform
When voters passed State Questions 780 and 781, they spoke loudly and clearly to legislators, district attorneys, and other policymakers.Trent England | January 1, 2017
-
Judicial Reform
Shift Power from the Elites to the People: Reform the Judicial Nominating Commission
No federal judges were on the ballot in 2016. Of course, federal judges are never on the ballot, and yet they are routinely an important subject in campaigns for President and U.S. Senate.Trent England | January 1, 2017
-
Law & Principles
Judges on the Ballot
The people of Oklahoma have no say in the selection of judges to state appeals courts and the Oklahoma Supreme Court. They do, however, vote on these judges in "retention" elections. Judges on the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, and Court of Civil Appeals are thus on the ballot every six years (district court judges are elected and face reelection every four years). While no Oklahoma judge ever has been kicked out this way, growing dissatisfaction with the judiciary has stirred interest in these elections.Trent England | November 4, 2016
-
Law & Principles
Voters' Guide to Ballot Measures
A product of the populist era, the Oklahoma Constitution establishes processes for direct democracy. On the November 2016 general election ballot, Oklahoma voters will decide whether to adopt four constitutional amendments and three changes to state statutes. Some of these measures are as simple as restating current law. Others would make complex regulatory changes or change legal standards in future lawsuits. The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs does not support or oppose ballot measures. To help voters, we are providing accurate descriptions and analysis of what these ballot measures say and will do if adopted by voters.Trent England | September 14, 2016
-
Law & Principles
Voters' Guide to Ballot Measures
A product of the populist era, the Oklahoma Constitution establishes processes for direct democracy. On the November 2016 general election ballot, Oklahoma voters will decide whether to adopt four constitutional amendments and three changes to state statutes.Trent England | September 1, 2016
-
Education
Commode Core Shows Why We Need School Choice
The Obama administration is bullying the nation’s public schools into allowing students who claim they are transgender to use the bathroom and locker room facilities of the opposite sex. This should be an object lesson to naive education reformers who want greater federal power over schools in order to push higher standards. But it is also something much bigger—it is helping people see that a government school monopoly is unsustainable in a pluralistic society.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | July 22, 2016
-
Education, Law & Principles
OCPA Impact Challenges Gist of Boren Penny Tax, SQ 779 Supporters Respond
OKLAHOMA CITY – OCPA Impact, an advocacy organization associated with the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, filed a challenge to the gist of State Question 779, commonly known as the Boren Penny Tax.Jay Chilton | July 8, 2016
-
Higher Education
Higher education serves as jobs program for former elected officials
What becomes of former elected officials who voters have decided their time in office should end? In the case of those officials who funneled taxpayer dollars into the coffers of public universities and colleges – many are hired to superfluous positions with exorbitant salaries within the same system that benefited from their train of taxpayer funds, higher education.June 20, 2016
-
Education
Let Families Grade Schools
Want to hurt kids? Put state bureaucrats in charge of evaluating the schools in school choice programs.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | May 1, 2016
-
Education
A Mosaic of Options
We hear a lot of talk these days about popular anger at elites. This rage has surprised not a few of our leaders. They, including the members of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, were especially shocked by the popular revulsion at the Court’s Ten Commandments decision. We witnessed a genuine “pitchfork” moment, where ordinary people are outraged by policies imposed on them by elites and moved to loudly say so.Andrew C. Spiropoulos | May 1, 2016
-
Education
Free Market Friday: Echo chamber
Thus far, lawmakers have failed to significantly expand educational options, especially for the most vulnerable. Recently legislative leaders announced that for now, no vote would occur by the full House or Senate to implement education savings accounts.Jonathan Small | March 18, 2016
-
Education
Free Market Friday: Desegregation through choice
Efforts to help the most vulnerable through school choice have received quite the boost.Jonathan Small | February 27, 2016
-
Education
Oklahoma Supreme Court upholds Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship
Last week on The Thoughtful Patriot, OCPA's Trent England talked with distinguished fellow Andrew Spiropoulos about the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship program.February 22, 2016
-
Judicial Reform
Real independence and accountability for Oklahoma judges
"Never let a crisis go to waste.” A group of attorneys put that maxim into practice in the late 1960s when, following a corruption scandal, they convinced Oklahomans to surrender their power to select state judges. The result is an unaccountable judiciary. Any of the judicial selection methods used by other states would be an improvement.Trent England | January 29, 2016
-
Education
ESAs: Easy to Use, Fiscally Responsible, Constitutional
Though all ESAs operate similarly, each state’s program is unique—from which students are eligible, to funding levels, to certain mechanics. These elements are detailed in the Summary Appendix Table at ocpathink.org/esa. In general, parents of eligible students who do not prefer a public school education for their child simply inform their state education agency. They sign a contract promising not to enroll their child in a public school as long as they are using an ESA, and the state deposits 90 percent of what it would have spent into a designated ESA for that child instead. ESA programs in Tennessee and Nevada stand out for depositing 100 percent of that funding into students’ ESAs. Under ESA programs in Arizona, Tennessee, and Nevada quarterly deposits are made, and parents make education-related purchases with dedicated-use debit cards.Vicki Alger | January 27, 2016