Meet The Democrat-Appointed Oklahoma Supreme Court

Only One of the Justices is a Republican Appointee

  Oklahoma has 9 justices serving on the supreme court. One has been there since Governor George Nigh appointed her.  There were 3 Republican Governors since then, but only one justice on the court is an appointee from the 17 years of Republican chief executives.

  A whopping 6 justices were appointed by former Governor Brad Henry. Two of them are the dissenters who sided with the monument. Since George Nigh left the governor's mansion, Democrats have only occupied it for 12 years. And yet there are 8 justices to their legacy.

Justice Yvonne Kauger  (1984 by Gov. George Nigh)	Justice Joseph Watt  (1992 by Gov. David Walters)	Justice James Winchester (2000 by Gov. Frank Keating)
Justice James Edmondson (2003 by Henry)	Justice Tom Colbert  (2004 by Henry)	Justice Steven Taylor  (2004 by Henry)
Chief Justice John Reif (2007 by Gov. Brad Henry)	Vice Chief Justice Douglas Combs ( 2010 by Henry)	Justice Noma Gurich  (2011 by Henry)

The ruling: 

Concurring to Order removal and ban of the Ten Commandments monument.

• Chief Justice John Reif 
• Justice Yvonne Kauger
• Justice Joseph Watt
• Justice James Winchester
• Justice James Edmondson
• Justice Steven Taylor
• Justice Noma Gurich

These seven are now the subjects of a legislator-led effort to impeach from the Supreme Court. 

DISSENTED

• Vice Chief Justice Douglas Combs
• Justice Tom Colbert

KOCO reports: 

 Multiple Oklahoma Republican representatives Tuesday called for judicial reform and the impeachment of seven Oklahoma Supreme Court justices who ruled that the 10 Commandments statue be removed from the Oklahoma Capitol, according to a news release.

  The representatives who support impeachment are Kevin Calvey, Oklahoma City; John Bennett, Sallisaw; Casey Murdock, Felt; Lewis Moore, Edmond; Dan Fisher, Yukon; and George Faught, Muskogee. Mike Sanders, Kingfisher, supports judicial reform but not impeachment.

  “Our state Supreme Court is playing politics by issuing rulings contrary to the Constitution, and contrary to the will of the clear majority of Oklahoma voters,” Calvey said in the release. “These Supreme Court justices are nothing more than politicians in black robes, masquerading as objective jurists. This ruling is the Court engaging in judicial bullying of the people of Oklahoma, pure and simple. It is time that the people chose jurists, rather than letting a tiny special interest group of lawyers at the Oklahoma Bar Association dictate who can and can’t be a judge. Read more at the KOCO story.

David Van Risseghem

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