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Showing 101 to 120 of 557 article results for “supreme court”
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma legislative session ends with few major accomplishments
State lawmakers passed some culturally conservative measures this year. But they left a Democratic group in charge of judicial selection and shelved tax cuts in favor of massive government-spending hikes.Ray Carter | May 31, 2024
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Education, Culture & the Family
Bill allowing Bible classes during school sent to governor
Legislation that provides a framework for schools to allow students to take religious or moral instruction from an outside provider during the school day has cleared its final legislative hurdle.Ray Carter | May 29, 2024
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Education
HB 1425 could improve student attendance, moral training
If HB 1425’s only benefit is to improve student attendance, it will be a success. And if the moral instruction students access because of the law impacts their outlook and lives in broader ways, that’s even better.Jonathan Small | May 21, 2024
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Criminal Justice
Child rapist who spurred McGirt decision set to go free
Oklahoma has “a two-tiered system of justice now, depending on your race.”Jonathan Small | May 20, 2024
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Higher Education
OU sued for racist scholarship practices
A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court says OU’s race-based financial-aid practices are unlawful.Ray Carter | May 16, 2024
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Education
School Bible classes linked to better attendance
A bill awaiting a vote in the Oklahoma House of Representatives would allow students to be excused for offsite Bible study. Proponents say this could impact students’ moral foundations and also boost school attendance.Ray Carter | May 13, 2024
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Criminal Justice
With child rapist set to walk free, Stitt warns of ‘two-tiered’ justice system in Oklahoma
The child rapist whose case led to the U.S. Supreme Court effectively re-establishing Indian reservations across eastern Oklahoma is set to walk out of prison a free man, something that would have never happened if his original trial as an Oklahoman in state court had been allowed to stand.Ray Carter | May 3, 2024
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Judicial Reform
Ten Commandments case highlights Oklahoma’s judicial incoherence
Some say the unelected and unaccountable Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC)—which chooses, in secret, all major Oklahoma judicial nominees—works just fine. Unfortunately, there is much evidence to the contrary.Jonathan Small | April 29, 2024
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Judicial Reform
OCPA Announces Oklahoma Judicial Scorecard
The Oklahoma Judicial Scorecard will look at rulings by justices on the Oklahoma Supreme Court.Staff | April 22, 2024
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Judicial Reform
JNC process lacks transparency
A flier recently distributed at the Oklahoma Capitol tries, desperately, to convince lawmakers that Oklahoma’s secretive Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) should be preserved and that Oklahomans will somehow be worse off if we instead adopt the judicial-selection process developed by our nation’s Founding Fathers. But the flier doesn’t pass the laugh test.Staff | April 17, 2024
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Judicial Reform
60 percent of JNC members are not Republicans
In a state where a majority of voters are Republicans, only 40% of JNC members are Republicans.Jonathan Small | April 15, 2024
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Judicial Reform
Judicial Nominating Commission structure hides partisan tilt
Defenders claim the JNC is “nonpartisan.” But the membership requirements of the group have granted Democratic partisans outsized influence in selecting Oklahoma judges.Ray Carter | April 15, 2024
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Judicial Reform
Group that selects Oklahoma judges loves Cuba?
The Oklahoma Bar Association offered its attorneys continuing legal education (CLE) credit for vacationing in a totalitarian communist country that flouts the rule of law.Ray Carter | April 11, 2024
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Education, Culture & the Family
Bible class ‘released time’ a good idea for Oklahoma
Let’s allow Oklahoma students to be excused from school to attend a course in religious instruction.Tom Newell | April 9, 2024
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Judicial Reform
Judicial-nomination transparency bill clears committee
Legislation that would end the closed-door, secretive process currently used to select Oklahoma judges has received strong support from a House committee.Ray Carter | April 9, 2024
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Judicial Reform
Another dubious Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling points up the need for reform
The court’s threadbare ruling on the minimum-wage issue highlights, once again, the importance of overhauling the judicial-selection process in Oklahoma. We need a system that produces judges whose rulings and opinions are grounded in law, not random political whims.Jonathan Small | April 1, 2024
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Law & Principles
Stop criminalizing speech
Using criminal penalties for protected speech should never be the default for lawmakers—even for speech we don’t like. Here are two bills that would criminalize speech.Ryan Haynie | March 21, 2024
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Judicial Reform
‘It’s not the most transparent process’: McCall notes problems with JNC
Members of the Oklahoma Senate have approved legislation that would allow voters to reform Oklahoma’s judicial-selection process. The proposed state constitutional amendment would eliminate the secretive Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and instead adopt the model established in the U.S. Constitution that allows the executive to nominate any qualified person to serve as judge, subject to legislative approval.Ray Carter | March 19, 2024
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Judicial Reform
Judicial-selection reform wins strong approval in Senate
Nominees for the Oklahoma Supreme Court could soon be selected by the governor based on merit, rather than having nominees chosen in secret by an outside group significantly influenced by special interests and Democratic campaign donors.Ray Carter | March 12, 2024
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Law & Principles, Energy
Bad bill would hike utility costs for consumers
State lawmakers should protect Oklahoma consumers from financial exploitation.Jonathan Small | March 11, 2024