Credit: Brad Gregg Black-and-white because some believe its medicinal benefits outweigh the stigma. Others want to nip that conversation in the bud. Green all over because Oklahomans both black and white use the drug at comparable rates. But — and here’s the punch line — black citizens in the state are arrested nearly three times […]
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Ogling open government
They also respected the concept of representative government, which suggests that those elected by the people are empowered to do the people’s business. What emerged from those private discussions seems to have worked out pretty well, for 226 years so far. That’s why we should take a realistic view of the ongoing dust-up over who […]
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Don’t drop the communion wafer
Credit: Brad Gregg We’d say that depends on the church. If it’s, say, Westboro Baptist, please direct us to the nearest detention facility. Muskogee County District Judge Mike Norman did not sentence 17-yearold Tyler Alred to attend a specific church. Alred is free to choose whichever place of worship he’d like, so long as he […]
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Capitol commandments
The monument is the result of a measure introduced by state Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, and passed by the Legislature in 2009 allowing for a privately paid-for monument to be placed on public property outside the Capitol. Little fanfare accompanied the installation on the north side of the building, with about a dozen non-workers […]
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A question of equality
Tamya Cox Photo: Mark Hancock Its proponents say the measure will advance equal opportunity. Authored by Sen. Rob Johnson, R-Kingfisher, State Question 759 would amend the state constitution to ban current policies requiring state agencies to submit annual affirmative action plans. Public offices would be prohibited from weighing inclusion or diversity when hiring. Although it […]
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Say my name
Angela Renee Ingram has the legal name of James Dean Ingram, but lives as a woman. On Aug. 30, Judge Bill Graves denied her request to make Angela her legal name. He said Ingram’s DNA could not be changed to that of a female, and therefore, allowing a name change would be the furtherance of […]
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Pioneering pride
Another Pride Week has passed. Never before have we had more of a reason to stand with the LGBT citizens of Oklahoma than now. With the breakthrough of a sitting president endorsing and recognizing the rights of gay citizens to marry and hold the same legal rights as heterosexual couples — for the first time […]
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A smarter criminal justice system
Oklahoma leads the nation in incarcerating women and outranks all but a few states in its overall incarceration rate. Our incarceration rate has doubled since 1989, and 50 percent of those in prison are there for nonviolent property or drug crimes — at a cost of more than $460 million annually. Each year we pass […]
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Remembering an Oklahoma civil libertarian
Working side by side with him for 17 years, I often said I spent more time with him than I spent with my family. As the “other half of my brain,” we worked daily to meet the challenges of civil liberty violations in Oklahoma. We were a true team with a common cause, and we […]
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‘Act of violence’
Organizers held a press conference and roundtable discussion at the state Capitol in conjunction with “World Day Against the Death Penalty.” The group’s members include the American Civil Liberties Union, Catholic Charities and the Oklahoma Conference of Churches. “We wanted the public to know that there is a group of people who care deeply about […]