Small: Oklahoma Supreme Court appointment process deserves scrutiny

Judicial appointment deserves scrutiny

By Jonathan Small

In the 2024 general election, Oklahomans chose to move on from extremely liberal judicial activist, Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger, when a majority of voters opposed her retention.

That process to replace Kauger, one of the court’s most liberal members, is now underway. Oklahomans should watch that process closely – at least what little they can.

As has become well known, Oklahoma’s judicial-appointment process is shrouded in secrecy.

Under Oklahoma’s current system, a 15-member Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) selects up to three nominees for court positions, including the Oklahoma Supreme Court. But that group does not hold public meetings or publicly record votes. You can’t even get a raw-number vote tally when the JNC puts forth nominees.

The governor is required to select one of the three candidates put forward by the JNC and cannot consider any other qualified individuals.

Of the 15 JNC members, six are appointed through the Oklahoma Bar Association. No other attorneys are allowed to serve.

Public records show the overwhelming majority of the bar’s JNC appointees since 2000 have directed most of their campaign donations to Democrats, which raises questions about the group’s ability to vet and choose judicial nominees aligned with a conservative judicial philosophy when a Republican governor is in office.

It appears five of the 14 individuals who have applied with the JNC to fill Kauger’s old seat previously donated to Democratic candidates’ campaigns or contributed to a political action committee (PAC) that supported Democrats, based on Oklahoma Ethics Commission records and campaign-contribution data maintained by the Open Secrets website.

Four applicants previously directly supported Democratic candidates, based on public records: Jon Keith Parsley of Guymon, Lawrence “Lance” Elmer Schneiter IV of Okarche, Michelle Kirby-Roper of Elk City and Nisha Moreau of Edmond.

A fifth applicant, Spencer Tracy Habluetzel of Wheatland, gave money to Citizens for Justice, a trail-lawyers’ PAC that funded a wide range of legislative candidates’ campaigns, including many Democrats, according to Oklahoma Ethics Commission records.

Ideally, those applicants would discuss those donations – and what their political preferences reveal about their judicial philosophy – in public. But Oklahomans won’t get to hear those answers, even if they are asked.

And it bears noting that the JNC may not even interview all 14 applicants, according to the testimony of a former JNC member during a recent legislative study.

Given the secretive process, Oklahomans will have good reason for suspicion if all three nominees advanced by the JNC previously donated to Democratic politicians, either directly or indirectly.

When Oklahoma voters chose to oust a liberal justice during the tenure of a conservative Republican governor, it sent the message that voters want a judicial conservative to fill that spot.

We’ll know later this year if the members of the JNC got the message, or if they are trying to instead thwart the will of the voters.

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.