Our judicial selection system has deterred corruption. It would be tragic if we ignore history.
Barbara Hoberock, in the Oklahoma Voice, wrote a must-read account of the latest battle over what I believe is the most dangerous right-wing attack on the rule of law in Oklahoma.
Hoberock explained how the conservative People for Opportunity organization, with ties to Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs’ leaders, has spent at least $156,000 on ads in an effort to remove Supreme Court Justices Noma Gurich, Yvonne Kauger and James Edmondson from the Court during the upcoming election.
Before voters cast a ballot in the Nov. 5 election, they should also remember the history of Oklahomans politicizing the Court.
As historian Bob Burke explained, “Oklahomans were embarrassed and humiliated by a court scandal in the 1960s when three justices of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma were forced out of office and disgraced.”
Up until the 1960s, corruption ruled some crucial Oklahoma Supreme Court outcomes. Three justices were accused of accepting bribes to help rig rulings in exchange for cash. After federal investigators successfully prosecuted the offenders, a Judicial Nominating Commission was formed. Since then, the Court has earned a reputation for integrity.
Justice William Berry, Rep. G.T. Blankenship (R), Gov. Henry Bellmon (R), OU College of Law Dean Earl Sneed, and Rep. Ralph Thompson (R) were leaders in creating a Judicial Nominating Commission that transformed the Court and Oklahoma politics. For nearly 60 years, the Court has been scandal-free.
But Burke also recounts efforts, started in 2013, to turn back the clock by empowering the governor to appoint judges and having them run for office on “a partisan basis” and where they could “actively ask for money.”
“Gone would be the active part the Oklahoma Bar Association plays in disciplining lawyers who violate the Code of Professional Conduct,” he said.
Then, in 2024, Janelle Stecklein wrote about Senate Joint Resolution 34, and how Republican legislators were opposed to “Oklahoma judge’s decisions regarding things like abortion, tribal compacting, and COVID-19.” Some were pushing to get rid of a system that’s prevented further judicial scandals.
In recent months, we’ve seen some high-profile cases end up before our high court. One dealt with the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling against the nation’s first Catholic Charter School.
Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Ryan Walters were among those that criticized the Court following the ruling.
We’re not always going to like the decisions made by our courts, but that’s no reason to overhaul our processes.
So, let me be among those to express reservations about this latest battle to reshape our state’s highest court.
It would be just tragic if we ignore this history of politicizing — and thus corrupting — the judicial system.
Doing so could mean reverting back to a system that led to the embarrassment and humiliation of all Oklahomans.