In 2016, Donald Trump won the presidency to the surprise of many— including many who voted for him.
While there are any number of reasons to point to for his victory, arguably the biggest was his campaign promise regarding appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts.
In a move that probably did more than anything to win over conservative voters, then-candidate Trump published a list of people he promised to pick from for the Supreme Court—with one seat already vacant. Despite Oklahoma’s appellate courts being wildly out of step with Oklahoma’s electorate, such a strategy could not be duplicated in Oklahoma. The current system for selecting justices for the Oklahoma Supreme Court would prevent a future candidate for governor from doing what Mr. Trump did.
That’s because a group of unelected bureaucrats, heavily influenced by the Oklahoma Bar Association, serve as gatekeepers to Oklahoma’s judicial appointment process and could blackball every person on a list put together by a candidate for governor.
That group is called the Judicial Nominating Commission, or JNC, and it needs to be repealed.
Oklahomans deserve a judiciary that reflects their values. And they deserve some say in who sits on our state’s highest court. Currently, Oklahomans vote for governor, but the governor is powerless to nominate whoever he or she deem best for a judicial vacancy.
Instead, a governor must pick from a list of three names provided by the JNC. If the governor dislikes all three, too bad. And because Oklahoma’s Constitution places limits on who our elected officials can put on the JNC, the voice of Oklahoma voters takes a back seat to the voice of special interests.
That could all change. The Oklahoma Legislature has a joint resolution, SJR 34, that would allow voters this November to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to repeal the unaccountable Judicial Nominating Commission and replace it with a process similar to that in the U.S.
Constitution.
As Schoolhouse Rock fans know, the U.S. Constitution allows the president to choose their nominee for judicial office and gives the legislative branch a chance to confirm or reject that nominee. This provides the checks and balances currently lacking in the Oklahoma system.
No doubt some will see this as a power grab—an attempt to capture the last branch of government after years of Republican governors and legislative supermajorities.
That might be valid if Oklahoma’s Supreme Court justices were disinterested umpires calling balls and strikes.
Instead, Oklahoma’s Supreme Court justices have proved too often that they see themselves as legislators in black robes—striking down numerous pro-life laws, tort reforms, and even a state law preventing schools from forcing children to wear masks during Covid.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court keeps injecting itself into policymaking at the state Capitol, making the selection of justices to the Court an inherently political process.
Oklahomans can take that process back from the special interests by repealing the JNC this November.
Ryan Haynie, J.D., is the General Counsel at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (www.ocpathink.org).