"The Oklahoma 3" Rally with Paul Jacob, Sen. Randy Brogdon

The Oklahoma 3, does not deserve to be the target of political retaliation from politicians who want to limit the political choices available to all Oklahomans.

This is an issue that transcends the political spectrum. Every one of us has a dog in this race." All of us may, in good time and for pressing issues, decide in the future to exercise our right to petition for redress of grievance via the initiative petition process. Any limitation on that right is therefore a direct attack on all of us.

Hat Tip to my Buddy Jenn @ forthardknox.com

Paul Jacob Kicks off the
“Save the Initiative Blog Tour”
by Jenn Sierra
January 28, 2008 at 10:20 pm

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Jacob after the arraignment of "the Oklahoma 3" (Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter). One might think that with the prospect of about a year ahead of him in legal battles, he might want to just relax and take a break, but quite the opposite was true. He stated the arraignment had gone about as expected, and that he would, if needed be back for the scheduling hearing on March 13th.

But then he was ready to talk about several Oklahoma initiatives, about the initiative process in general, and about his new project over the next year - which is is calling the “Save the Initiative Blog Tour.” The goal, partially, is to make bloggers more aware of the importance of the initiative process.

Jacob stated that his three major goals regarding his legal process are:

1) Win in Court

2) Get the residency laws in the states that have them “thrown out.”

3) Make sure this indictment of the Oklahoma 3 does not become a deterrent to intiative-activists, but that it instead becomes a rallying cry for them.

Jacob explained that the initiative process does for politics what the first amendment did for the media, and that a successful revolution of this process would allow citizens to dynamically address te legal system - now and in the future.

He shared that for a citizen, deciding to begin an initiative (e.g. for term limits, spending limits, government accountability, etc..) requires that citizen to count the cost, personally, and those costs can be astromical, personally and professionally. There is an enormous amount of time (away from family, career, personal life), and often a huge financial burden involved. But when the additional cost of legal retaliation by the government becomes a consideration, many citizens decide they simply cannot take that risk, and will “shut up.” Jacob’s goal, in working through his own legal battle, through his foundation (Citizens in Charge), through the Sam Adams Alliance and Foundation, and now through the “Save the Initiative Blog Tour” is to reduce the fear of such legal action against citizens by their government.

When asked what advice he would give to citizens who are considering becoming involved in the initiative process, he said:

1) Go for it.

2) Get an attorney. It may seem ridiculous to need an attorney to petition your own government, and it is, but get an attorney.

3) Look “over your shoulder” on every move. Retaliation from certain government officials can extend to the initiative creators, the petitioners, the volunteers, and even the donors.

4) If a move is questionable, go the “unquestionable route.”

5) Remember that if you can just succeed in getting the initiative on the ballot, you can still win (even if you’re outspent and bullied by the opposition).

6) Don’t give up. If we give up our right to petition our own government, we aren’t going to like what our country looks like for our children and grandchildren.

Finally, when asked how bloggers, and our blog readers can help - both with the legal battle of the Oklahoma 3, and with the citizen initiative process in general - Paul said:

1) Spread the word, by talking with your neighbors

2) Contact the governor (in this case of Oklahoma, Brad Henry)

3) Don’t “harrass” Drew Edmondson or his staff, simply for the sake of harrassing them.

4)Pay attention to current legislative measures pending, and contact your legislators.

The most inspiring thing that Paul said to me during the interview was that he considered the sacrifices he is making now to be insurance for his children’s and grandchildren’s future. Although he made it clear that he fully intends to win this case, he also stated that it was even more important that the end-result of his efforts was an America in which citizens are free to petition their government, and carry out the initiative process. If this meant he had to go to jail, then he would be willing to do it.

For more information, see Free Paul Jacob.

For more info see

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

Petitioner indictments short democratic rights

THE PEOPLE SPEAK:
Petitioner indictments
short democratic rights

Published January 19, 2008

As independent voters, we are concerned that the initiative and referendum process in Oklahoma is being threatened.

Three initiative leaders were brought up on criminal charges by the attorney general (Drew Edmondson) for hiring out-of-state petition carriers to help place an initiative on the ballot after they had been assured that it was legal. More than 300,000 Oklahomans signed the petition. However, the court ultimately ruled the initiative off the ballot, and it was never voted on.

Now almost a year later, the attorney general has indicted the three initiative leaders for “willfully violating” the state’s residency requirements.

His persecution of the initiative leaders is a blow to the democratic rights of Oklahoma citizens. It serves only to frighten and intimidate voters from exercising their constitutional rights to participate in the initiative process.

We urge you to call on the attorney general to drop this indictment and to defend our right to initiative and petition.

John Adair of Edmond and 46 other Oklahomans

Editor’s note: The above letter was sent to Gov. Brad Henry this month from a group called Oklahoma Independent Voters, Kim Wright of Altus, chair.

Chicago Daily Observer: Oklahoma 3 story underreported

Sunday, January 13, 2008

An actual local Civil Rights activist was arrested and brought in chains before an Oklahoma court charged with circulating petitions as non residents of the state. Paul Jacob, a fellow at Chicago’s Sam Adams Alliance faces 10 years in prison for practicing the 1st amendment, in a prominent case in the eyes of the Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine, yet totally ignored by the Chicago Media (and Oklahoma Media).

Paul Jacob updates the case against the "Oklahoma 3"

Paul Jacob, citizen leader and Senior Advisor with the Sam Adams Foundation, discusses what's happened since his criminal indictment in October 2007. OK Attorney General Drew Edmondson accuses Paul and two others of breaking a state law regarding petition signature gathering, but Paul and the others followed the law as it had been interpreted previously by the OK Supreme Court. Now Edmondson wants to imprison the OK 3 for up to 10 years. For more information, visit http://www.freepauljacob.com and http://www.samadamsalliance.org

For the background on the Oklahoma 3 see this...



A mash-up video, about the Oklahoma AG's attack on "The Oklahoma 3".

The Oklahoma 3, does not deserve to be the target of political retaliation from politicians who want to limit the political choices available to all Oklahomans.

This is an issue that transcends the political spectrum. Every one of us has a dog in this race." All of us may, in good time and for pressing issues, decide in the future to exercise our right to petition for redress of grievance via the initiative petition process. Any limitation on that right is therefore a direct attack on all of us.

FLASH - DREW’s CRUSADE Part 2: The RE-Indictment of “The Oklahoma 3”

It look like our AG has re-file "CRIMINAL FELONY" counts on "The Oklahoma 3"

“Everyone should be deeply concerned about this,” Oklahoma Sen. Randy Brogdon said.
“The Constitutional rights of every citizen of Oklahoma are in jeopardy as well as the
liberty of three good people who face ten years in prison. If this shameful political
assault succeeds, everyone is at risk. It is an outrage!”

Brogdon said the only crime committed was the disenfranchisement of over
300,000 Oklahoma voters who expressed their voice by exercising their
Constitutional rights.


"The Oklahoma 3" are Rick Carpenter, Susan Johnson and Paul Jacob

Also for more Info see

www.freepauljacob.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS42UfTfQd0

http://tinyurl.com/2vkn9x



more to come....

DREW’s CRUSADE: The Indictment of “The Oklahoma 3”

A mash-up video, about the Oklahoma AG’s attack on "The Oklahoma 3".

The Oklahoma 3, does not deserve to be the target of political retaliation from corrupt politicians who want to limit the political choices available to all Oklahomans.

This is an issue that transcends the political spectrum. Every one of us has a dog in this race.” All of us may, in good time and for pressing issues, decide in the future to exercise our right to petition for redress of grievance via the initiative petition process. Any limitation on that right is therefore a direct attack on all of us.

“Everyone should be deeply concerned about this,” Oklahoma Sen. Randy Brogdon said. “The Constitutional rights of every citizen of Oklahoma are in jeopardy as well as the liberty of three good people who face ten years in prison. If this shameful political assault succeeds, everyone is at risk. It is an outrage!”
Brogdon said the only crime committed was the disenfranchisement of over 300,000 Oklahoma voters who expressed their voice by exercising their Constitutional rights.

“It appears Drew Edmondson is more concerned with protecting his own political power than he is with preserving, protecting, and defending the right of Oklahomans to free speech,” Brogdon added. “This is nothing less than an attack on our Republican form of government.”

Paul Jacob and Sen. Randy Brogdon both have said, What is really happening here is a conspiracy to violate “under color of law” the constitutional right to petition for redress of grievances in Oklahoma.

www.freepauljacob.com

Sen. Randy Brogdon Questions Edmondson's TABOR Motives

Oklahoma State Senator Randy Brogdon (Owasso, R-34) questioned Oklahoma AG Drew Edmondson’s motives in his effort to prosecute three participants in the 2005 Taxpayer Bill of Rights petition drive.

Sen. Brogdon noted that when asked by reporters whether his prosecution was politically-motivated, Edmondson stated that the indictment of the petition workers did not come from his office, but was the work of a multi-county grand jury. The Attorney General recently filed a motion to dismiss the multi-county grand jury’s indictment against the three petition activists, making a statement that a new indictment would be issued directly from the office of the Attorney General.

Brogdon also pointed to recent negative news coverage of the Attorney General’s prosecution against the “Oklahoma 3”. Editorials in The Wall Street Journal and Forbes magazine compared Oklahoma’s justice system to that of Pakistan and North Korea, respectively.

“Drew Edmondson and this outrageous prosecution are an embarrassment to the state,” Brogdon said. “His politically motivated decision to prosecute three innocent people has cast the state in a negative light and has been criticized by publications read throughout the nation and world.”

“Amazingly, there was no news coverage when the Attorney General quietly dismissed his once trumpeted indictment,” said Sen. Brogdon, “Attorney General Edmondson needs to come clean. Is there something so wrong with his grand jury process or with the indictments themselves that he has to re-issue the indictments from his office after dismissing them from the grand jury?"

Calling the actions of the Edmondson an embarrassment to the state, Sen. Brogdon urged the AGn to end his “politically motivated” prosecution.

“This is a good time of the year for our Attorney General to reflect on what is at stake and end the persecution of three innocent people,” Brogdon stated. “This politically motivated prosecution sends a chilling message to our citizens to never buck the political system.”

The “Oklahoma 3” are Rick Carpenter of Tulsa, Paul Jacob of Virginia and Susan Carpenter of Michigan, president of National Voter Outreach, a petition management company. The three worked to gather signatures for a Taxpayer Bill of Rights initiative in 2005.

Oklahoma's Most Wanted

The latest thing in political felonies: a petition drive.

Monday, November 19, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST

A veteran political activist is facing 10 years in prison and a hefty fine for attempting to petition government for redress of grievances. The latest news from Pakistan? No, this is happening in Oklahoma.

Last month Paul Jacob, the former head of U.S. Term Limits and current head of Citizens in Charge, was led out of an Oklahoma City courtroom in handcuffs after pleading not guilty to charges that he conspired to defraud the state. Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who's overseeing this bizarre prosecution, has accused Mr. Jacob and two fellow petition organizers--Rick Carpenter of Oklahomans in Action and Susan Johnson of National Voter Outreach--of bringing out-of-state petition gatherers to Oklahoma to collect signatures.

In 2005 Mr. Carpenter, a Tulsan, launched a signature campaign to get a state-wide vote on a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Tabor, as it is known, would cap the rate at which state government spending could increase. Mr. Jacob and Ms. Johnson were later brought on board to assist the effort. Not surprisingly, politicians and interest groups that favor big government have developed an intense dislike for Tabor spending limits, even though, like lawmaker term limits, they tend to be popular with voters.

This certainly proved to be the case in Oklahoma. Despite strong opposition from organized labor especially, Tabor petition advocates managed to gather some 300,000 signatures from registered voters, far more than the 219,000 needed to get the measure on the state ballot. Following a court challenge, however, the signatures were invalidated, not because the signers weren't legitimate but because the Oklahoma Supreme Court determined that nonresidents of the state had collected signatures.

Ironically, it is perfectly legal for opponents of a petition to solicit money and manpower from out-of-state. And sure enough, public sector unions opposed to the Tabor initiative recruited people from outfits like the Oregon-based Voter Education Project, an offshoot of the AFL-CIO that specializes in countering signature drives. They also set up Web sites that advertised the location of signature-gathers and urged their members to harass them.

After the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled, Attorney General Edmondson could have let the matter die. Instead, he decided that the best use of scarce prosecutorial resources was to indict the petition campaigners. There's reason to believe his decision has less to do with enforcing the law and more to do with warning activists to think twice before challenging political elites.

Mr. Jacob says petition organizers consulted with both the board of elections and the secretary of state's office and were told that the residency rule could be met by anyone who moved to the state and declared himself a resident. In any case, that residency requirement is currently being challenged in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Mr. Edmondson might have at least waited for that outcome before pursuing felony counts against three people acting in good faith.

"The response is draconian and intended to scare and intimidate," says Mr. Jacob, who also faces a fine of up to $25,000 if convicted. "To get 10 years in prison for following what you understand to be the rules of the petition drive would send a chilling message, not only throughout Oklahoma but throughout the country. That's not what we want people to be thinking about when they consider whether to join a campaign to reform their government."

The Democratic AG has denied that his actions are politically motivated, telling reporters that "we're charged with enforcing the laws that are on the books." But every prosecutor has to make judgment calls about how to deploy limited manpower. And in other areas, Mr. Edmondson has opted not to act while legal challenges are pending. Upon learning that the Supreme Court had agreed to review a challenge to the death penalty, for example, he recently requested that all executions be halted until the High Court speaks.

Like many other ambitious AGs, Mr. Edmondson has his eye on higher office, and indicting Tabor supporters will win him friends among the unions and liberal interest groups that can sway a fight for the Democratic nomination. With so many other real crimes to deter, his pursuit of citizen petitioners is not the kind of prosecutorial zeal we need.



http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010882

Reynolds: "Why Is a Liberal, Out-of-State Group Praising Edmondson?”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: State Rep. Mike Reynolds

Capitol: (405) 557-7337

OKLAHOMA CITY (October 26, 2007) – Although the Washington, DC-based Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) claims to be a "progressive 'think-and-do' tank" eager to "reinvigorate the initiative process among state and national progressive organizations...." it’s actions undercut that claims, state Rep. Mike Reynolds said today.

BISC statements imply that it upholds the values of democracy and citizen initiative rights, and is a friend of the rule of law.

"But it seems this is only true when BISC wants to advance its own political agenda through initiatives," said Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, responding to a recent statement issued by the Center. "BISC is apparently all in favor of hauling supporters off to prison if they work for initiatives BISC doesn't like."

An October 22 press release issued by the organization applies its BISC-quicked logic to the case of Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter, leaders in a recent Oklahoma initiative to limit state spending often referred to as a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). If convicted of participating in democracy they could go to prison for up to 10 years.

According to BISC, the Oklahoma three are "crooks [who] have worked in this arena long enough to know the laws. They just thought they could get away with ignoring them. In fact, we have found that most right-wing ballot initiative players operate with complete disregard for state laws meant to ensure an open and honest process of putting issues on the ballot."

BISC's blanket characterization of "right-wing ballot initiative players" immediately suggests an ideological bias, Reynolds said.

But worse, said Reynolds, "BISC is dishonest to claim that the Oklahoma Three 'thought they could get away with ignoring' Oklahoma's law that petition circulators be residents. BISC links to Paul Jacob's statement of self-defense but ignores his explanation of how the state changed the rules, after the fact, on what constitutes residency. At freepauljacob.com, Mister Jacob reports in detail on the effort he and others made to ensure that they were complying with the law, a law that contrary to BISC's assertions does not in fact do anything to ensure an open and honest ballot process.

"If BISC thinks Jacob is wrong on the facts, why don't they answer him?" Reynolds asked. "Why don't they refute him? Their attack is clearly not about facts or objective law. It's sad that political activists who make use of the initiative process themselves refuse to see the glaring injustice and unconstitutionality here, which could be extended to them too one day. And it is an Orwellian inversion to imply that abetting the exercise by Oklahoma citizens of their constitutionally guaranteed citizen initiative rights is in and of itself a form of sabotage of those rights."

BISC Executive Director Kristina Wilfore has even gone so far as to submit a letter of praise to Attorney General Edmondson stressing that the TABOR campaign was funded and enjoining Edmondson to look into the "network of funders" that has supported this and other petition drives.

“BISC is not a credible source of information,” said Reynolds. “It’s on the extreme left, supported by donations from the National Abortion Rights Action League and billionaire George Soros's Open Society Foundation. BISC is about using the initiative process to promote the leftwing agenda of its donors. Contrary to its rhetoric about ‘out of state’ interests, BISC itself provides direct donations to ballot measures in multiple states.

“BISC ideologically opposes TABOR initiatives,” said Reynolds. “In 2006, Nebraska campaign filings show that BISC was paid to train people in blocking a TABOR petition drive. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against three Nebraska cities because they violated the 1st Amendment rights of TABOR petitioners."

“BISC should be ashamed enough of its admitted role in campaigns designed to harass petitioners and block voters from deciding issues like TABOR,” Reynolds concluded. “But now we see their desire to help in the AG’s witch-hunt against the initiative process, to actually throw their political opponents in prison. That's a sad commentary on BISC.”

The state representative pointed to BISC’s own statement that their help in the prosecution of these three individuals by the AG is “a continuation of those efforts” to block TABOR from the ballot.

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