Criminal justice reform advocates want to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to prohibit sentence enhancements based on previous felonies for nonviolent offenders. The measure would also allow nonviolent offenders serving enhanced sentences to seek a modification in court. “A former conviction for one or more felonies shall not be used to enhance the statutorily allowable range […]
tom ward
Posted inNews
Advocacy alert
After spending nearly a year campaigning on the effects of tough-on-crime policies that have packed the state’s prisons and jails to the bursting point, largely with Oklahomans suffering from addiction and mental health problems, Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) leaders felt confident that the two ballot measures they put before state voters in the […]
Posted inNews
Tom nixed
Credit: Brad Gregg Wonder if his board liked the way they looked firing him? Closer to home, SandRidge’s board deemed Ward expendable just months after Aubrey McClendon, with whom Ward had founded Chesapeake Energy, was pushed out by his board. Shareholders these days seem to be more volatile than Glee fans. But don’t cry too […]
Posted inNews
McClendon’s genius
I’ve had the good fortune to know both men, who, by any measure, are two of the most visionary entrepreneurs responsible for much of Oklahoma City’s renaissance. Chesapeake is America’s second-largest natural gas producer. Early on, McClendon and Ward realized the promise of unlocking huge deposits of natural gas by fracking. In replacing McClendon, Chesapeake […]
Posted inNews
Tom Tom, clubbed
Credit: Brad Gregg Apparently, that was just a warm-up act. Now, the news agency is examining SandRidge Energy and its CEO, Tom Ward. In a recent story, Reuters showed how some practices at SandRidge didn’t differ much from those at Chesapeake, which Ward had co-founded with McClendon. Reuters reported that Ward received $75 million in […]
Posted inNews
Hot or not
The Wall Street Journal reported recently that McClendon will likely remain in place as CEO after an internal investigation of his financial dealings is completed later this month. McClendon, you might remember, survived a shareholder revolt after revelations that he used his stake in oil and gas wells as collateral for more than $800 million […]
Posted inNews
Sour shareholders
Credit: Brad Gregg TPG-Axon, which holds a 4.5 percent stake in SandRidge, charged in a Nov. 8 letter to SandRidge’s board that the company had engaged in reckless spending and that shareholders had experienced a 76-percent decline in stock price. TPG-Axon requested that the company be sold, Tom Ward replaced as CEO and board members […]