Were we to lose these judges, who'll be left to keep Stitt, Walters in line?
Remember Kauger, Gurich, Edmondson, because you want them in the breach
You must have seen them.
You must have seen the ads, for and against, three different Oklahoma Supreme Court justices, three different Oklahoma Supreme Court justices who’ve done a fine job protecting us from both governor Kevin Stitt’s and state superintendent Ryan Walters’ worst impulses, which are many.
They are Yvonne Kauger, Nora Gurich and James Edmondson, all of whom will be on the ballot to be retained or to not be retained in the Nov. 5 general election.
The great M. Scott Carter, who’s terrific at both unwinding and explaining things (he write’s fiction, too), had the story in Thursday morning’s Oklahoman and the crux of it is this:
In addition to the three Supreme Court justices, three judges from the Court of Criminal Appeals and six judges from the Court of Civil Appeals are on the retention ballot. And though the retention vote is normally a quiet, nonpartisan issue, this year, it’s become an ugly, expensive political fight.
On one side: the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and the political action committee People for Opportunity.
On the other, the leaders of five of the state’s most powerful tribal nations, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Seminole and Muskogee nations, and a second political action committee, Protect our Freedoms.
At its core, the battle over judicial retention is a fight about political ideology. The OCPA and the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce have, for years, complained that the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decisions are too liberal. Decisions tied to issues such as abortion, tort reform and state-tribal relations have all drawn pushback. While the justices say they are following the law, conservatives complain the court’s rulings aren’t reflective of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Noma Gurich said voters should decide whether or not to retain judges based on the judges’ qualifications and not politics. Gurich has served on the court for 11 years.
“The facts are that a nonpartisan election has turned partisan, and that’s in nobody’s best interest,” Gurich said.
So now you’re updated.
Now, maybe, take a moment to write down the names of Kauger, Gurich and Edmondson, stick them on your refrigerator door and when the time comes to vote for democracy, remain in NATO, not tax American consumers via exorbitant tariffs, against the insane overreach of Project 2025 and against a former president (and current felon) who wishes American generals could more like Hitler’s Nazi generals, grab that same note, take it to the polls and remind yourself who the good guys are when it comes to retaining judges, when it comes to keeping the overreach of the governor and state superintendent in check.
Also, maybe, step outside the electoral politics of the moment and realize, holy cow, why is it so many Republicans in our midst and beyond have no use for the law, the Constitution, nor societal norms that have kept this country going throughout its history.
You can do it by looking through the lens of that same state Supreme Court.
In just the last year or so the court has stepped in to rule St. Isidore of Seville, the virtual would-be Catholic public charter school favored by Stitt, Walters and others who care not one bit about public education, cannot stand;
It has ruled that school districts, not Walters as state superintendent, nor the state department of education, nor the state school board, have authority over the contents of the libraries in the schools of those districts;
It has ruled a petition designed to give Oklahomans the right to vote to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15/hour by 2029 may indeed continue, paving the way to a vote by the people, and though Stitt’s found a way to push the vote to 2026 it’s still scheduled to be on that ballot.
It has ruled the legislature may itself renew legal compacts with tribal nations located within the state’s borders, cutting Stitt out of negotiations no matter how great his vendetta against those nations.
Get it?
We have separation of church and state in Oklahoma and the nation because of constitutions, state and federal, but you know who doesn’t care one bit about the text of each of those documents and a long history of precedent?
The same Republicans who think Stitt and Walters are doing a heck of a job.
School districts have been governed by school boards of the districts themselves for decades and decades and decades and decades and decades. The state superintendent and the department he or she heads exists to support those districts, make resources available to those districts and, when required, police them when they run afoul of the law, yet not tell them willy nilly what they must do as though the whims of the state superintendent have the force of law because they don’t.
But you know who thinks they should?
The same Republicans who think Stitt and Walters are doing a heck of a job, the same folks who relish culture wars, imagined and fabricated, in the name of power and lining their own pockets, no matter what the law might say.
Pretty much, too, they’re all about freedom of speech, no matter how great the misinformation, but not about freedom of the press, the fourth estate, which might get in the way of that misinformation, might tell inconvenient truths that make them look bad, corrupt or lawless because they are.
What’s inconvenient or unpopular, it’s their wont to mow through all obstacles, by changing the rules or changing those who set them should fear, loathing and intimidation fall short.
It’s not all Republicans, of course.
See the attorney general, the labor commissioner and perhaps a few legislators who think government ought to work for everybody rather than pick winners and losers.
The rest?
Don’t vote for them.
And the judges they want thrown out, keep them in.
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What BS! TRUMP 2024 🇺🇸