Ads target three Oklahoma Supreme Court justices
Pictured is the Oklahoma Supreme Court chamber in the Capitol. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A group frustrated by Oklahoma Supreme Court rulings has launched an unusual campaign aimed at convincing voters to remove three justices at the November ballot box.
Critics though said the effort is “tragic” and is a knee-jerk reaction by some who want to alter the makeup of the Oklahoma’s highest court because they disagree with the court’s decisions.
The ads target Justices Noma Gurich, Yvonne Kauger and James Edmondson. The ads list their ages as being older than 71.
The ads are being sponsored by People for Opportunity, which has board representatives from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a conservative activist group that is a regular in legislative politics. People for Opportunity lists OCPA President Jonathan Small as one of its board members, along with Trent England, one of its fellows.
Federal Communication Commission filings show the group has spent at least $156,000 to air television ads critical of the three justices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas. The campaign has spent about $85,000 to air the commercial during the University of Oklahoma-University of Texas college football game this weekend.
The ads say the three justices have “added millions to the cost of doing business” and are “padding the pockets of trial lawyers.”
It labels them as “liberal activist judges,” and urges viewers to vote no on the Nov. 5 retention ballot question that allows voters to decide if they should remain in their posts.
Democratic governors appointed all three targeted justices to the posts.
“The Oklahoma Bar Association, big medical and others have had an outsized influence on the Oklahoma Supreme Court for a long time,” said Dave Bond is a spokesperson for the group, which formed in 2020. “We don’t think that typically works in the favor of most Oklahoma citizens, or of our state economy, or for the ability of good, sustainable jobs to be created in our state.”
Bond also serves as Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs vice president for advocacy.
He declined to say how much of the group’s money is coming from out of state. Critics allege out-of-state interests are funding the campaign.
He said People for Opportunity is separate from OCPA.
If the judges are removed, it would give Gov. Kevin Stitt three more appointments to the nine-member panel. He already has three appointees to the state’s high court: M. John Kane IV; Dustin P. Rowe; and Dana Kuehn.
Stitt’s office did respond to questions about whether he supported the removal effort or donated to it.
“It is the most unfortunate thing I see going on in this election cycle,” said former Gov. David Walters, a Democrat. “It is just tragic.”
The founding fathers created three branches of government, not two, he said. The branches serve as checks and balances on each other.
Asking voters to toss out a judge because the judge is following the law is a knee-jerk reaction by those who disagree with the court’s decision, Walters said.
“I think they all ought to be retained because they are doing their job,” said former Justice Joseph Watt, who is retired from the court. “They have years of appellate experience. They are entitled to be retained.”
According to the code of judicial ethics, judges up for retention can’t campaign for retention unless there is active opposition to their retention, Watt said.
A spokesperson for the administrative director of the courts did not respond to a request for comment.
Pat Hall, a political consultant, said another group is in the works to “combat the lies of OCPA and others.”
The ads against the judges on the retention ballot are being funded by out-of-state, far right groups “that are trying to turn our Supreme Court into a court for sale to the highest bidder,” Hall said.
If successful, the courthouse doors will be locked to citizens, Hall said.
“We have never had a judge not retained in Oklahoma,” said Pat McFerron, a GOP political consultant.
The campaign against the Supreme Court justices could be successful because most people do not know a lot about the justices and Republicans have an advantage in political races, McFerron said.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has been the target of Republican legislative leadership after overturning several laws, including those dealing with abortion and lawsuit reform.
Lawmakers have repeatedly authored bills to alter how judges are selected. Last session, a bill to put an age limit on justices failed to secure approval.
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