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SJR 34: Oklahoma judicial reform

The Oklahoma State House of Representatives is considering SJR 34, a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to change Oklahoma's nominating process for state appeals courts to match the federal method: Nomination by the chief executive with the advice and consent of the legislature. This would put the entire process of...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 9, 2024 10:29 PM

Oklahoma 2022 judicial retention

A few notes on the four Oklahoma Supreme Court justices and five Court of Civil Appeals judges on the retention ballot this year. None of the five members of the Court of Criminal Appeals are up for retention this year. Judges in Oklahoma's appellate system are up for retention every...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 24, 2022 7:54 PM

Oklahoma Election 2020: Judges

The 2020 Oklahoma general election ballot has retention votes for three State Supreme Court justices, two judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals, and three judges on the Court of Civil Appeals. These are yes-no votes, unlike the district judge elections that occur in gubernatorial election years. If "no" prevails...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 28, 2020 8:40 AM

Oklahoma Supreme Court 2018: Yes to Wyrick, no to the rest

Conservative political consultant Holly Gerard explains why she'll vote to retain State Supreme Court justice Patrick Wyrick: Patrick Wyrick is my pick to retain - he has been flat-out fantastic. He argued successfully before the Supreme Court in support of the Repeal of Common Core when State School Board Members...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 2, 2018 4:10 AM

Justice Marian Opala, RIP

Marian Opala, associate justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, has died at the age of 89. He will be missed. Opala was born in Poland, fought against Germany in the Polish Army and the Resistance, captured in the Warsaw Uprising, and imprisoned in Flossenburg Concentration Camp. After the camp was...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 11, 2010 2:29 PM

Judicious voting

An edited version of this column was published in the November 2-8, 2006, issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly. The published version is available on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Here's my blog entry linking to the article. Posted October 25, 2022. Judicious voting By Michael D. Bates Ye shall not...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 1, 2006 4:08 PM