Tulsa World: State won't appeal initiative petition ruling

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State won't appeal initiative petition ruling

By The Associated Press
Published: 1/22/2009 3:29 PM
Last Modified: 1/22/2009 3:29 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY — Attorney General Drew Edmondson said Thursday he has decided not to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court that struck down an Oklahoma law barring nonresidents from circulating initiative petitions.

Edmondson also said his office dismissed criminal charges against three people accused of violating Oklahoma's out-of-state petitioner ban. All three were scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Oklahoma County on Feb. 6 but Edmondson said he was awaiting the outcome of the appeals process before deciding whether to proceed.

"The statute under which these defendants were charged has been declared unconstitutional, and the appellate process is complete," Edmondson said. "The statute is no longer enforceable."

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, were accused of conspiracy to defraud the state by using out-of-state circulators to collect signatures for the so-called taxpayer bill of rights in 2006.

Last month, a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled the nonresident petitioner law was unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment's free speech protections as well as the Fourteenth Amendment.

The decision overturned Senior U.S. District Judge Tim Leonard of Oklahoma City. 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.

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.

The statute, passed in 1969, required anyone who circulates a petition to be a qualified elector, meaning they must be a U.S. citizen over the age of 18 and an Oklahoma resident.

Edmondson said he decided against appealing the case further after extensive legal analysis and after discussing the issue with Gov. Brad Henry and legislative leaders.

Edmondson said the chance of prevailing at the Supreme Court was slim. The state Legislature can adopt new residency requirements if the high court rules in favor of the state of Arizona in a similar residency case, he said.

"Requiring petitioners to be Oklahoma residents is a policy decision made by the Legislature and the governor," the attorney general said. "The attorney general's office doesn't make the law, we enforce and defend it."

By The Associated Press

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	Report Comment BottleCap, BA (1/22/2009 3:56:25 PM) Bout time!
	Report Comment droopy, wagoner (1/22/2009 5:14:20 PM) dog, you really shouldn't talk about Hillary that way. It's not nice.
	Report Comment David M. Brown, (1/22/2009 11:14:48 PM) I am glad that Paul Jacob is no longer under threat of being imprisoned in Oklahoma for the "crime" of helping manage a petition drive in that state. His brief announcement that the charges have now been dropped is below. Recall that when Paul and two others involved in the petition drive were indicted by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson in October of 2007, they were forced to show up in court IN HANDCUFFS. Unwilling to be cowed, Paul proclaimed his innocence and the travesty of the charges in front of the cameras; and in the months since then has been fighting a valiant and spirited battle for himself, his co-defendants, and indeed all who would exercise the right of citizen intiative. The "Oklahoma Three" were fortunate to get some national attention and support from the likes of Steve Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and Ralph Nader. But in light of how far the case had come based on zilch evidence of wrongdoing, and the bullheaded and vindictive nature of Edmondson's prosecution, I was worried that Paul and his co-defendants might really end up spending time in jail. Paul and the others did nothing wrong, yet were being threatened with up to ten years in prison for allegedly willfully violating a technical rule of signature gathering that was unconstitutional to begin with. If you are interested, Paul's statement explaining the circumstances of the case is available at the freepauljacob site.
	Report Comment Someone needs to say it., (1/22/2009 11:33:38 PM) Finally some justice. Too bad Edmondson is able to get started with these types of political witch-hunts. Maybe the legislature should take a look at some of Edmondson's other cases and see if they are politically motivated. Not everyone can afford tens of thousands of dollars to battle the state. Have others with been locked in Oklahoma for petitioning the government? Will we ever know?
	Report Comment Norma from Norman, norman (1/23/2009 8:44:30 AM) Even though this lawsuit has been dropped our work is not over. We need to pass legislation that will spell out the rules so there is no room for interpretation. The rules need to be clear. The statement at the top of a petition called the "Gist statement"needs to be approved before you go to all the trouble of gathering the signatures. The Amount of signatures needs to be reduced and the time to gather the signatures needs to be extended. This would allow for a true citizen initiative. Senator Randy Brogdan has introduced two bills that will do just that, SB852 and SJR 13. Please contact his office to find out more and then call your Senator to support those bills. Norma Sapp/ Oklahoman's for Initiative Rights 405-321-4619 Norma, Norman - Jan 23, 2009 at 8:05 AM

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