Tag Archives: Oklahoma Supreme Court

Nearly Imposed Anarchy on Oklahoma

By Governor Kevin Stitt

As published by The Wall Street Journal on April 10, 2026:

It was an anticlimactic end to a legal and political horror story: On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court said it wouldn’t review Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission, a state Supreme Court decision that upheld Oklahoma’s authority to tax residents regardless of their race. Why would that even be an issue? It’s a long and complicated historical tale.

Before Oklahoma gained statehood in 1907, its eastern part was known as Indian Country—an area consisting largely of the historical reservations of the Five Tribes that were forcibly relocated from Southeastern states along the Trail of Tears between 1830 and 1850. After the Civil War, Congress dissolved the reservations and land was allotted to the individuals who lived there as federal law weakened or abolished tribal governments.

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Energy Discrimination Unconstitutional

By Staff Report

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a law requiring state entities to divest from financial companies that have policies deemed hostile to fossil fuel companies is unconstitutional. The court also issued a permanent injunction against state Treasurer Todd Russ, the defendant, to prevent him from enforcing or applying the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Elimination Act of 2022 to the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System. 

 Justice James Edmondson, in his majority ruling available here, wrote: “We conclude Energy Discrimination Elimination Act of 2022 is unconstitutional in its entirety when applied to (the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System)”

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OK JNC Meeting Upcoming

By Ryan Haynie. OCPA

The Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) will conduct interviews for the Oklahoma Supreme Court vacancy on March 11, 2025. (Click here to urge your state legislators to demand three good candidates be sent to Governor Stitt.) According to a press release issued by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) on February 4, 2025, the JNC plans to conduct its interviews for the position of Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice on March 11, 2025.

Because the JNC is not subject to the Open Meetings Act or the Open Records Act, it can be difficult to know how the meeting will be conducted or how its members will conduct the vote. Concerned citizens can look to two resources to provide a peek into the process. The first is the rules set by the JNC itself. Although the rules have no enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance, they are the best thing the public has to assess the process. The second resource is a House interim study held last October. 

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