Judicial Nominations Still At Issue
Legislation targeting Okla. judiciary stirs debate
By TIM TALLEY, Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — For the first time since a bribery scandal rocked Oklahoma’s Supreme Court 50 years ago, state lawmakers are considering tinkering with the way Supreme Court justices and appellate court judges are selected.
Legislation pending in the state House would alter the method for choosing some members of the 15-member Judicial Nominating Commission, which nominates candidates to be selected by the governor to fill vacancies in the state’s highest courts.
Six members of the commission are attorneys and the rest are non-lawyers. Currently, the six attorneys are elected to seats on the commission by members of the Oklahoma Bar Association. But a measure passed by the House Rules Committee would allow the speaker of the state House to appoint three of the attorneys and the president pro tem of the Senate to appoint three.
Supporters of the proposal say the change would help restore a balance of power in the judicial selection process that they believe is missing between the state’s three branches of government.