The Edmond Sun

Local News

Discussion

December 18, 2008

Court reverses initiative petition ruling

Tim Talley

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal appeals court Thursday ruled that an Oklahoma law that bars nonresidents from circulating initiative petitions in the state is unconstitutional and reversed a lower court that had upheld the statute.

In a 16-page decision, a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver overturned the ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge Tim Leonard in Oklahoma City and sent the case back to him for more hearings.

Leonard had ruled that state officials presented “overwhelming evidence” that questioned the integrity of professional petition circulators and cited evidence of wrongdoing in other states by professional, paid circulators.

But the appellate court said the record did not support the district court’s conclusion that nonresident circulators engage in fraudulent activity more than resident circulators and ruled the state failed to prove that its ban was narrowly tailored to protect the initiative process due to a higher rate of nonresident circulator fraud.

The appellate court said the state’s ban on nonresident circulators, which subjects violators to criminal prosecution, violated the First Amendment’s free speech protections as well as the Fourteenth Amendment.

Charlie Price, spokesman for Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s office, said state attorneys may ask the appellate judges to reconsider or rehear the case, or appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The appellate court’s ruling could have an impact on the state’s prosecution of three people indicted on felony charges by the state’s multicounty grand jury for allegedly using out-of-state residents to circulate an initiative petition.

Paul Jacob of Virginia, a national leader of the term limit movement, Susan Johnson of Michigan, head of a signature-gathering company, and Rick Carpenter of Tulsa, director of Oklahomans In Action, are charged with conspiracy to defraud the state by using out-of-state circulators to collect signatures for the so-called taxpayer bill of rights in 2006.

Price said the case is still pending.

Oklahoma’s law, similar to those in other states, was challenged by Yes on Term Limits, which wants to use nonresident, professional petition circulators to put an initiative on the ballot to enact two-term limits on the statewide offices of lieutenant governor, state auditor and inspector, attorney general, treasurer, labor commissioner and schools superintendent.

The group’s attorneys alleged that the law barring nonresidents and other Oklahoma laws that limit the initiative process are among the most restrictive in the nation.

In its ruling, the appellate court said the circulation of initiative petitions is “core political speech” involving interactive communication about political change and deserves the highest level of First Amendment protection.

The appellate judges rejected findings by the lower court that Oklahoma has a “compelling interest in protecting and policing both the integrity and the reliability of its initiative process.”

“Oklahoma has failed to prove that banning all nonresident circulators is a narrowly tailored means of meeting its compelling interest,” the ruling states. “Oklahoma has also failed to prove the ineffectiveness of plausible alternatives to the blanket ban on nonresidents.”

Text Only
Local News
  • 012412 ransbottom bracelet.jpg MIA bracelet finds its way home

    A silver Missing In Action bracelet found its way to the mother of a Vietnam veteran recently.
    It was through the tenacity of another veteran that Laverne Ransbottom was united with her son Fredrick Ransbottom’s memory yet one more time.

    February 4, 2012 2 Photos

  • 020212 school board debate.jpg Board candidates discuss philosophies

    Edmond Board of Education candidates for Seat No. 2 met in a candidate forum sponsored by West Field Elementary’s Parent Teacher Organization Thursday evening.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Baby Jake inquiry to continue

    A multicounty grand jury has recessed but will hear from more witnesses when it reconvenes next month.
    On Wednesday and Thursday the 13th Oklahoma multicounty grand jury, led by Assistant Attorney General Charles Rogers, chief of the AG’s Multicounty Grand Jury Unit, received evidence; it also met Jan. 1.
    During the session at the Attorney General’s Office, 313 N.E. 21st St., grand jurors received testimony of witnesses and numerous exhibits in several different matters, according to an interim report released Friday by the attorney general’s office.

    February 3, 2012

  • JESSICA RENAKER.jpg Pot pipe in child’s diaper leads to couple’s arrest

    Two Guthrie residents were arrested after a child arrived at a Head Start program with a marijuana pipe in the child’s diaper, police said.

    February 3, 2012 3 Photos

  • MICHAEL DUSKIN.jpg Police: Registered sex offender moves into East Edmond home

    A 35-year-old registered sex offender is a new Edmond resident, police said.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • 2-4 Edmond Senior Center calendar

    The following events are scheduled for the Edmond Senior Center the week of Feb. 6.

    February 3, 2012

  • pm_Lisa Crosslin.jpg Edmond resident to lead DC 5th- and 6th-graders

    Inspiring and empowering are two key words in the vocabulary of the new intermediate school principal recently hired by the Deer Creek School Board.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • pm_science bowl teamA.jpg Santa Fe academic team to compete in D.C.

    Santa Fe High School students have earned their way to the top once again.
    U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced recently that members of the Santa Fe High School academic team won the Oklahoma Regional High School Science Bowl.

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • jc_Tom GuildA.jpg Guild makes 5th District run official

    Claiming that many people have lost faith in government, Edmond Democrat Tom Guild officially announced his candidacy for the 5th Congressional District of Oklahoma. The middle class and the working poor are under attack, Guild said Thursday at his Oklahoma City campaign office.

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Economist shows state surged ahead in 2011

    Oklahoma is beating Texas when it comes to recovering from the great recession.
    “One of the things I would like us to do is stop comparing ourselves to Texas. Quite frankly, we are kicking Texas’ behinds,” said Deidre Myers, director of Policy,

    February 2, 2012