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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.

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<v Speaker 1>It's time now for our community connection right here on

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<v Speaker 1>k the one you trust, David Bond is joining us again.

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<v Speaker 2>How you doing, Dave? Great?

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<v Speaker 1>Tom, thanks for having me back. Well, it's always great

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<v Speaker 1>to have you back. You know, we learned so much

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<v Speaker 1>from you and your organization. The last time you were here,

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<v Speaker 1>many people would go into the voting booth and they

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<v Speaker 1>saw that, Oh my gosh, retention of judges. What's that mean?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh well, what the heck? You know, if I haven't

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<v Speaker 1>heard of them, they haven't created a train wreck whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes they vote to retain. Sometimes they just don't vote

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<v Speaker 1>at all. But you and your group and your organization

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<v Speaker 1>have really taken a good analysis of the records of

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<v Speaker 1>all these justices here in Oklahoma Supreme Court justices tell

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<v Speaker 1>us a little bit about all this.

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<v Speaker 2>This is good stuff. Thank you so much. Tom.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, on behalf of OCPA Action and also OCPA we

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<v Speaker 3>have put together the Oklahoma Judicial Scorecard. A lot of

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<v Speaker 3>folks don't think about their Oklahoma Supreme Court very much,

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<v Speaker 3>and so we've been going all over the state educating

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<v Speaker 3>folks about their state Supreme Court, helping them be more

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<v Speaker 3>familiar with the justices on the court how they have

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<v Speaker 3>ruled on important cases, particularly over the past twenty years.

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<v Speaker 3>And so we've put out there the Oklahoma Judicial Scorecard.

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<v Speaker 3>It's at oaklad judges dot com, Okla judges dot comoklad

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<v Speaker 3>Judges dot com. It's the first of its kind that

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<v Speaker 3>we know of publicly available overview of how our Supreme

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<v Speaker 3>Court justices have ruled on cases. It covers a lot

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<v Speaker 3>of areas, It covers a lot of stuff related to

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<v Speaker 3>our state's legal climate.

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<v Speaker 2>We've been labeled here in Oklahoma as a quote.

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<v Speaker 3>Judicial hellhole by out of state groups the American Tort

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<v Speaker 3>Reform Association, because we every time our Republican legislators at

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<v Speaker 3>the state capital try to pass meaningful lawsuit reform, Supreme.

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<v Speaker 2>Court justices throw it out.

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<v Speaker 3>That's just one example they've They're trending leftward on a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of other things as well. But three of them

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<v Speaker 3>are up for retention on the ballot on November fifth,

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<v Speaker 3>Yvonne kugar No mc gurrich, and James Edmondson. All three

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<v Speaker 3>were appointed by Democrat governors. A lot of people are

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<v Speaker 3>surprised to learn that we have nearly half the justices

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<v Speaker 3>on our State Supreme Court who were appointed by Democrats

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<v Speaker 3>and who have a very liberal bent and a tendency

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<v Speaker 3>to legislate from the bench. One of them, Yvonne Coagar,

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<v Speaker 3>has been on the court longer than Nancy Pelosi has

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<v Speaker 3>been in Congress, and they both have a very liberal worldview,

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<v Speaker 3>and the other two are quite liberal as well. And

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<v Speaker 3>so we are encouraging Oklahomas when they go in to

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<v Speaker 3>vote to really think about who am I voting on?

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<v Speaker 2>Is this the direction I want our state to go?

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<v Speaker 3>Would I rather see a change and have something more

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<v Speaker 3>in line with where a majority of Oklahomas are on

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<v Speaker 3>the court. And so the way retention election works is

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<v Speaker 3>if you vote yes, they are retained in office. They

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<v Speaker 3>get to stay in office. And if you vote no,

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<v Speaker 3>then they are removed and somebody else will be nominated

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<v Speaker 3>to take their place and we can make a change.

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<v Speaker 2>Wow, you guys have really done your homework.

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<v Speaker 1>You've actually scored all the justices, but these three in particular.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, they're nine justices on our state Supreme Court. We

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<v Speaker 3>have a ranking from up to one hundred percent score

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<v Speaker 3>all three of these Gurrich, Kauger and Edmondson have scored

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<v Speaker 3>pretty low it's meant to be a scorecard that lines

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<v Speaker 3>up with conservative judicial principles. So folks on the other

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<v Speaker 3>side of the spectrum may see these scores and say, well,

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<v Speaker 3>I want to vote to retain them. I think they're great.

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<v Speaker 3>I think we need liberals on our Supreme Court. I'm

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<v Speaker 3>glad we still have justices who are appointed by Democrats.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a good thing.

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<v Speaker 3>But other folks may say, you know, I don't know

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<v Speaker 3>if that is a good thing. I think I may

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<v Speaker 3>need to vote, know and remove these folks. It's not

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<v Speaker 3>just been on tort reform stuff that they've been throwing

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<v Speaker 3>out conservative reforms. They've been throwing out a lot of stuff.

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<v Speaker 3>They've thrown out portions of our states election security laws.

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<v Speaker 3>Back during COVID, you know, a lot of states were

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<v Speaker 3>getting rid of a lot of security measures to verify

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<v Speaker 3>mail in absentee ballots. A lot that was going on

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<v Speaker 3>all over the country. During twenty twenty, our State Supreme

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<v Speaker 3>Court actually did the same thing. They threw out some

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<v Speaker 3>protections on our security verifications for mail in ballots here.

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<v Speaker 3>The legislature later thankfully came back and shored that back up,

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<v Speaker 3>but our Supreme Court was doing the same thing that

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<v Speaker 3>folks in Pennsylvania and Arizona were doing to water down

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<v Speaker 3>the validity of mail in ballots in those states. They've

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<v Speaker 3>thrown out pieces of our state's immigration law, particularly pieces

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<v Speaker 3>that have pertained to illegal aliens who come in our

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<v Speaker 3>state and commit felonies, making it harder for law enforcement

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<v Speaker 3>to deal with that.

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<v Speaker 2>So they've thrown out a bunch of things.

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<v Speaker 3>They threw the Ten Commandments monument off the state capitol

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<v Speaker 3>grounds a few years ago, when the ACLU and other

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<v Speaker 3>people said, we can't have that Ten Commandments at our

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<v Speaker 3>state capital. We have separation of church and state. Never

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<v Speaker 3>mind that the Ten Commandments are at the US Supreme.

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<v Speaker 2>Court and our laws are based on those.

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<v Speaker 3>Many of them are yes, So our our state Supreme

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<v Speaker 3>Court sided with the ACLU and also the Church of

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<v Speaker 3>Satan believe it or not, the actual Church of Satan,

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<v Speaker 3>and said, yeah, we can't have the Ten Commandments at

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<v Speaker 3>the state capitol. Those are just a few examples. We've

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<v Speaker 3>got many many more at the judicial scorecard at OKLA

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<v Speaker 3>judges dot com ok La judges dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I've heard that a few of these justices have

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<v Speaker 1>been accused of actually trying to reword or rewrite legislation.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, they do have.

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<v Speaker 3>They are liberal activist judges in the in the modern

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<v Speaker 3>sense of the term. They legislate from the bench on

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<v Speaker 3>a regular basis. You know, we have Republican majorities at

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<v Speaker 3>the state Capitol, we have a Republican in the governor's office,

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<v Speaker 3>and they pass legislation that's that goes a certain direction

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<v Speaker 3>on a whole host of issues. And our state Supreme

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<v Speaker 3>Court has developed a pretty consistent habit of throwing a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of that stuff out and in fact legislating from

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<v Speaker 3>the bench, not always even giving written opinions as to

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<v Speaker 3>why they're throwing something out, sometimes just doing it, and.

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<v Speaker 1>Often speaks of authoritarianism right there, when you don't have

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<v Speaker 1>a rationale for your decision, just do as I say.

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<v Speaker 2>That doesn't sim well with a lot of people.

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<v Speaker 3>It is interesting the way we do Supreme court judges

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<v Speaker 3>here in Oklahoma. They're not really there's not a checks

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<v Speaker 3>and balance process with the legislative branch like you have

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<v Speaker 3>in the US Constitution. And so we have developed over

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<v Speaker 3>time a situation where our state Supreme Court doesn't usually

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<v Speaker 3>feel like they have to answer to a lot of folks.

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<v Speaker 3>They run in retention elections every six years after they're

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<v Speaker 3>initially put on the court. Nobody's ever been unretained by

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<v Speaker 3>the voters in Oklahoma. This would be the first time.

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<v Speaker 3>But I do think it's a pretty severe situation. We've

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<v Speaker 3>got three folks who were appointed by Democrats, have a

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<v Speaker 3>clearly left leaning view of how government ought to be,

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<v Speaker 3>and have consistently legislated from the bench in the liberal direction,

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<v Speaker 3>siding with trial lawyers but also with the ACLU and

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<v Speaker 3>other folks.

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<v Speaker 1>How liberal are the justices ranked in the United States?

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, where's Oklahoma coming in as far as having

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<v Speaker 1>liberal justices?

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you for that question.

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<v Speaker 3>So group of researchers from Alabama and Georgia did a big,

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<v Speaker 3>extensive study of all the state supreme courts in the

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<v Speaker 3>entire country over the last four decades, and they found

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<v Speaker 3>that Oklahoma Supreme Court was the fourth most liberal in

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<v Speaker 3>the country, more liberal than New York, California, Vermont, Illinois,

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<v Speaker 3>New Jersey, you name it. Only Hawaii and three other

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<v Speaker 3>states had more consistently liberal leaning supreme courts than Oklahoma.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think some folks would be a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>shocked hearing this for the first time.

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<v Speaker 2>A lot of people are surprised.

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<v Speaker 3>A lot of people assume, well, we have Republicans in

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<v Speaker 3>the legislature and a Republican governor. Surely we have a

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<v Speaker 3>right leaning state Supreme Court that really is not true,

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<v Speaker 3>has really never been true in Oklahoma. This would be

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<v Speaker 3>a big sea change. You have three of the most

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<v Speaker 3>liberal folks on the court. If they were to be

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<v Speaker 3>removed by the voters, if a majority of voters vote

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<v Speaker 3>no on the three of them on November fifth, they

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<v Speaker 3>would be removed, and then there would be the possibility

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<v Speaker 3>of a true flip in the court to a right

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<v Speaker 3>leaning court, which would probably be more in line with

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<v Speaker 3>where a significant majority of Oklahomans are.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, people want to find out where do we

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<v Speaker 1>go to get this scorecard?

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<v Speaker 2>Again?

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<v Speaker 1>You said that at the beginning, and I know some

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<v Speaker 1>folks just tuned it in the middle.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you find that, Thank you so much, Tom.

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<v Speaker 3>Okla Judges dot com, oklad judges dot com. Ok La

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<v Speaker 3>judges dot com is where folks can find the Oklahoma

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<v Speaker 3>judicial scorecard.

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<v Speaker 2>And where can we find out more about your organization?

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you so much. Ocpak dot org. If you go

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<v Speaker 3>to the scorecard, it'll take you to our website as well.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you, oklad judges dot com. We really hope folks

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<v Speaker 3>will see that as a resource, just so they have

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<v Speaker 3>something to go off of when they're going in to

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<v Speaker 3>vote on these Supreme Court justices. We typically know how

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<v Speaker 3>we're going to vote on a congressional race or presidential

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<v Speaker 3>because we've had a lot of information thrown at us

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<v Speaker 3>and we can sift through it. But most voters, I've

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<v Speaker 3>certainly never had a place where I could go and say,

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<v Speaker 3>who are my Supreme Court justices?

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<v Speaker 2>Are they liberal? Conservative? What are they?

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<v Speaker 3>And something that I can go off of when I

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<v Speaker 3>go in to vote. And so that's what we've tried

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<v Speaker 3>to all Right, Hey, David, thank you for being with

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<v Speaker 3>us today. Thank you Tom for the opportunity.

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<v Speaker 1>All Right, folks, you have been watching and listening to

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<v Speaker 1>our community connection