Our Issues
VOTER ID BILL FAILS IN OKLAHOMA SENATE
6.26.08
Senate Bill 1150 failed to garner the 25 votes needed on May 14, 2008 to require Oklahomans to provide proof of identity in order to vote. SB 1150, authored by Senator John Ford, would have required Oklahomans to provide a photo ID, bank statement, government check, or pay check the next time they went to the polls. The ACLU of Oklahoma praised those senators who voted against a voter ID bill.
“Voting is a fundamental right that should be exercised without unnecessary burdens,” said ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director Joann Bell. “We are grateful to the Senators who understand that requiring proof of identity is essentially requiring Oklahomans to pay to vote.”
The failure of SB 1150 comes on the heels of the US Supreme Court decision upholding Indiana’s voter ID requirement.
“We have incidents of eligible Indiana voters who were unable to vote because of lack of proper identification in that state’s primary,” said ACLU of Oklahoma Legal Director C.S. Thornton. “According to reports, elderly nuns, a college student who had an out of state driver’s license, a newly married woman whose last name did not match the name on her registration were all eligible voters and were all turned away for More >
TEN COMMANDMENTS APPEAL ARGUED BEFORE TENTH CIRCUIT
6.26.08
The appeal of a 2006 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma to retain a Ten Commandments monument on the Haskell County Courthouse lawn was argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver Colorado on October 4, 2007. Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the National ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, presented the oral argument to the Tenth Circuit. He was advised by Micheal Salem, an ACLU of Oklahoma cooperating attorney who handled the case at the District Court trial with former ACLU of Oklahoma Staff Attorney Tina Izadi.
The ACLU of Oklahoma originally filed the case on behalf of plaintiff James W. Green, who objected to the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Haskell County Courthouse in Stigler, Oklahoma. Stigler resident Sharon Nichols acted as the representative on behalf of the ACLU of Oklahoma membership. The judge at the District Court dismissed the controversy as a “kerfuffle” and ruled that the monument was not erected by the County with a religious purpose. The case is Green v. Board of Commissioners of the County of Haskell.
Immigration Controversy Continues
8.23.07
MALDEF & ACLU
House Bill 1804, passed during the 2007 session of the Oklahoma Legislature and signed by Governor Brad Henry, will require local law enforcement, state agencies, municipal government and small businesses to enforce federal immigration restrictions. The new law, the Oklahoma Taxpayers and Citizens Protection Act (OTCPA), will take effect on November 1, 2007.
ACLU of Oklahoma Legal Director C.S. Thornton and Program Coordinator Tamya Cox have been analyzing the OTCPA in conjunction with the ACLU National Immigrants’ Rights Project to determine what portions of the statute might be vulnerable to challenges on constitutional grounds. In addition, Thornton, Cox and Legal Intern Manish Rajwar have met extensively with representatives of advocacy groups involved with Oklahoma’s residents of Latin American descent.
Affiliate representatives met in Tulsa with advocates from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and other organizations on June 2, 2007. Later in the day, ACLU staff participated in a public meeting at Tulsa’s East Central High School with concerned members of the Hispanic community.
A conference featuring a presentation about the OTCPA by David Blatt of Tulsa’s Community Action Project was held in Tulsa on June 5, 2007. The ACLU joined in discussion with representatives from advocacy groups and More >
JOANN BELL REPRESENTS ACLU AT THE UNITED NATIONS
6.23.07
UN delegates, Joann Bell second from right
Representatives from four local ACLU offices joined Lenora Lapidus of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and Ashwini Hardikar of the ACLU Human Rights Program at the 51st Annual International Commission on the Status of Women and Girls hosted by the United Nations at its headquarters in New York. ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director Joann Bell and ACLU personnel from Delaware, Michigan and Puerto Rico participated in sessions held March 5-7, 2007.
The goal of the sessions attended by the ACLU delegates was to insert language on conditions of incarceration into a one-page proposal on the treatment and rights of women and girls. Bell was chosen as a delegate because Oklahoma incarcerates women at a higher rate per capita than any other state in the U.S.A. Bell was also selected due to personal activism she initiated several years ago on behalf of a pregnant immigrant who was being held in the Oklahoma County Jail.
The efforts of the ACLU delegation were ultimately successful. Language protecting the rights of girls in custody was included in the violence and discrimination section of the Report issued by the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
The violence and discrimination section More >
