HJR 1037 is legislation that will allow all Oklahoma Supreme and Appellate Court judges to face elections to retain their offices. We have seen the court mess up on several occasions, the one most personal ought to be the Gerhart blackmail decision where the two liberal women appellate justices refused to honor higher court decisions on free speech. Then we have seen the erosion of Oklahoma values such as the 10 Commandment decision, abortion decisions, and who can forget that the Oklahoma Supreme Court allowed Oklahoma to be saddled with bond debt despite a Constitutional mandate that the state incur no debt.
Judges do face a retention ballot once in a while but without an active campaign and an opponent driving the discussion of the judges failings the public rarely learns which way to vote so there is no way to remind them they work for the people and not the other way around.
The Bar Association is fine with the status quo as they get to recommend who is considered for judicial openings. Please contact your legislators and urge them to vote YES on HJR 1037
