In Oklahoma, freedom's not OK

In Oklahoma,
freedom's not OK

Our view

For most people, the right to petition the government is as old as our Bill of Rights. Others may argue the right extends to the Declaration of Independence or to ancient English documents.

Comes now the state of Oklahoma, in the person of Attorney General Drew Edmondson, with different ideas.

Edmondson has indicted three people — Paul Jacob, former head of U.S. Term Limits; Rick Carpenter of Oklahomans in Action; and Susan Johnson of National Voter Outreach — for what he says is willful violation of state law prohibiting out-of-state people to circulate political petitions in Oklahoma. The defendants and their supporters say the real impetus behind this prosecution by Edmondson, a Democrat, is the indicted trio's successful petition campaign against big government.

Some background: Carpenter, a Tulsan, launched the petition effort in 2005 when he sought to limit government spending there. Despite overt efforts by opposing organizations to defeat the petition drive, some 300,000 Oklahomans signed on, enough to put the question on the ballot. That's when the state Supreme Court weighed in.

The high court ruled state law prohibited out-of-state people like Jacob and Johnson, professional organizers, and out-of-staters like some of those who distributed petitions, from operating in Oklahoma. Out-of-state people who would — and did — try to block petition drives are permitted, not those who distribute them.

The petition organizers had sought legal clearance before they launched their First Amendment work. They were told they could operate with only the intent to move to Oklahoma. But in its ruling, the high court changed the rules, petition organizers charge, by saying out-of-staters must intend "permanent residence" in Oklahoma. It gets worse.

Edmondson pursued felony criminal charges against the Oklahoma Three. When his October 2007 indictment of the petition organizers encountered legal problems, Edmonson indicted the three again. Jacob, Carpenter and Johnson — who have been handcuffed and shackled in Oklahoma, and threatened with 10 years in the slammer — are scheduled for arraignment at month's end.

If you thought Oklahoma was a conservative state, guess again. With Edmondson — critics call him the ayatollah of Oklahoma — operating, nobody's freedom is safe. If one group of petitioners can be prosecuted on political whim, eventually all petitioners can face some form of prosecutor abuse.

Oklahoma's continuing drama demonstrates America's most vicious and divisive political trend in the last two decades: the criminalization of political differences.

In Jena, thousands gathered in 2007 to decry what they believed was unjust court action, siding with six people — the Jena Six — who were accused in the savage attack of one schoolmate. The Oklahoma Three is accused of no savagery; these three law-abiding people merely petitioned the state government. How many will show up at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Oklahoma County Courthouse, 321 Park Ave., Oklahoma City — that's when and where their arraignment is scheduled — to protest the state of Oklahoma's political savagery?

You don't need to be a permanent Oklahoma citizen to do that. Not yet.

Given the political climate, who'd want to be?

thenewsstar.com