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☆ A judge has resigned after sending 500 texts during a toddler's murder trial in which she mocked a prosecutor, jury members, and witnesses
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An Oklahoma judge resigned after she was caught sending hundreds of texts during a murder trial. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAn Oklahoma judge has stepped down after she was caught sending hundreds of text messages while presiding over a murder trial concerning the death of a two-year-old boy. AdvertisementThe move to oust Soderstrom came about after the Oklahoman published 50 minutes of security footage, which showed Soderstrom sending messages for minutes while in the courtroom. AdvertisementWhen the deceased child’s mother took the stand as the prosecution’s key witness, she sent a text saying: “Can I please scream ‘liar, liar?

Persons: —, Traci Soderstrom, Braxton Danker, Khristian Martzall, John Kane IV, Soderstrom, ’, “, child’s, ” Organizations: Service, Associated Press, Oklahoma Supreme, AP, Oklahoman Locations: Oklahoma, Lincoln County

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge who sent more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial will resign, according to a court filing. In a proposed settlement agreement filed Thursday with the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary, District Judge Traci Soderstrom agreed to resign on Friday and never again seek a judicial office in Oklahoma. Soderstrom, who was elected in November 2022 and took office on Jan. 9, 2023, voluntarily suspended herself in October. However, being human, I have also faltered.”The judge’s texts during Martzall's trial on a charge of killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old son included saying the prosecutor was “sweating through his coat,” according to Kane’s petition. The texts described the defense attorney as “awesome” and asked “can I clap for her?” during the defense attorney’s opening arguments.

Persons: —, Traci Soderstrom, John Kane IV, Khristian Tyler Martzall, Soderstrom, “, ” Soderstrom, ” Kane, Martzall Organizations: OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma Court, Judiciary, Oklahoma Supreme Locations: — An Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Chandler, Oklahoma City

Two of the laws were already put on hold by a district court judge. About a month later, the U.S. Supreme Court stripped away women’s constitutional protections for abortion, which led to abortion bans in more than 20 states. The number of abortions performed in Oklahoma immediately dropped dramatically, falling from about 4,145 in 2021 to 898 in 2022, according to statistics from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In at least 66 cases in 2022, the abortion was necessary to avert the death of the mother, the statistics show. Abortion statistics for 2023 are not yet available, a health department spokeswoman said.

Persons: The, Rabia Muqaddam, Gentner Drummond, ” Drummond, Phil Bacharach, Kevin Stitt Organizations: OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma Supreme Court, Senior, Center for Reproductive Rights, Oklahoma, Republican Gov, U.S, Supreme, Oklahoma State Department of Health Locations: The Oklahoma, Oklahoma, New York

Oklahoma's Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Friday sued to stop a state board from establishing and funding what would be the nation's first religious public charter school after the board ignored Drummond's warning that it would violate both the state and U.S. constitutions. Drummond filed the lawsuit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court against the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board after three of the board's members this week signed a contract for the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, which is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. The school board voted 3-2 in June to approve the Catholic Archdiocese's application to establish the online public charter school, which would be open to students across the state in kindergarten through grade 12. A message left Friday with Rebecca Wilkinson, the executive director of the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, was not immediately returned, although Wilkinson has said previously she wouldn't comment on pending litigation. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a nonprofit organization that supports the public charter school movement, released a statement Friday in support of Drummond's challenge.

Persons: General Gentner Drummond, Drummond, Isidore of, Rebecca Wilkinson, Wilkinson, Isidore, Kevin Stitt, “, Stitt, Stitt's, ” Drummond Organizations: Republican, Oklahoma Supreme, Oklahoma Statewide, Charter School Board, Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, Archdiocese, Oklahoma City, Catholic, Oklahoma's Republican Gov, GOP, Oklahoma, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Locations: U.S, Isidore of Seville, Oklahoma

☆ Court Ruling Revives Reparations Claim Filed by Tulsa Massacre Survivors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The legal fight over reparations for the 1921 massacre of Black residents in Tulsa, Okla., will continue, after the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the attack’s last three living survivors. The lawsuit, filed in 2020, includes the city, the Tulsa County sheriff, county commissioners and the Oklahoma Military Department, which administers the Oklahoma Army and Air National Guard, as defendants. A Tulsa County district judge dismissed it in July, and the state’s high court agreed last week to hear an appeal. “It is a huge victory for us,” Damario Solomon-Simmons, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview on Tuesday. Ms. Benningfield Randle said she still has flashbacks of corpses being stacked on the street as her neighborhood burned, according to the lawsuit.

Persons: ” Damario Solomon, Simmons, Viola Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis, Lessie Benningfield Randle, Benningfield Randle Organizations: Oklahoma Supreme, Tulsa County, Oklahoma Military Department, Oklahoma Army, Air National Guard Locations: Black, Tulsa, Okla, Oklahoma, Tulsa County

☆ Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules New Abortion Bans Unconstitutional
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jacey Fortin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Why It MattersOklahoma is among a number of Republican-led states that moved to ban abortion in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year. Legal challenges were quick to follow, and many cases ended up before state supreme courts. Those courts have become critical arbiters in deciding abortion access, and a new political front in the nation’s abortion battles. In some conservative states, courts have decided that their state constitutions protect abortion rights. Doctors in other states with abortion bans said they have struggled to provide care for patients without breaking the law.

Persons: Roe, Wade, ”, Rabia, “, ” Gentner Drummond, Emily Wales Organizations: Oklahoma, Republican, U.S, Center for Reproductive Rights, Reproductive, State of, Planned Locations: U.S ., Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Texas, Oklahoma, State, State of Oklahoma

March 21 (Reuters) - Oklahoma's highest court on Tuesday ruled the state's constitution protects a right to an abortion to preserve the mother's life, and that a doctor does not need to wait until there is an immediate medical emergency to perform one. In a 5-4 ruling, the Oklahoma Supreme Court found that a law passed last year that allows life-saving abortion only when there is a "medical emergency" violates the "inherent right to life" under the state constitution. The court did not strike down a separate 1910 abortion ban with an exception for preserving the mother's life that does not require a medical emergency. It also did not address whether the state constitution includes a right to abortion under any other circumstances. Tuesday's decision comes amid widespread uncertainty in states with abortion bans about when doctors can perform the procedure if needed to preserve the mother's life or health.

Kaye Hearn, a justice on South Carolina’s Supreme Court, wrote the majority opinion this month that struck down the state’s six-week abortion ban. Two women, Court of Appeals Judges Stephanie McDonald and Aphrodite Konduros, were initially in the running for Hearn’s seat but withdrew Tuesday. (The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court for criminal cases, also has an all-male bench; the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which hears civil cases, has both female and male justices.) In 1988, Toal was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Hearn, who was elected to the state’s Court of Appeals in 1995, joined her on the bench in 2010.

The following are major companies that were accused of contributing to the crisis, and settlements or judgments involving those companies. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA)-In November, finalized claims nationwide for $4.25 billion, some of which is to be paid as a supply of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone. AbbVie Inc (ABBV.N)-In November, finalized a $2.37 billion nationwide settlement resolving claims against Allergan, a company it acquired in 2020. Endo International Plc (ENDPQ.PK)-Reached a $450 million settlement with more than 30 states as part of a bankruptcy filing in August. Mallinckrodt Plc (MNK.A)-Reached a $1.7 billion nationwide settlement as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan, approved in February.

☆ Opioid Crisis Fast Facts
▼ + stars: | 2017-09-18 | by ( Cnn Editorial Research | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

March 29, 2017 - Trump signs an executive order calling for the establishment of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. April 9, 2018 - The US surgeon general issues an advisory recommending that Americans carry the opioid overdose-reversing drug, naloxone. The settlement will be used to fund addiction research and help cities and counties with the opioid crisis. Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the state’s opioid crisis. November 15, 2022 - Walmart agrees to the framework of a $3.1 billion settlement, which resolves allegations from multiple states’ attorneys general that the company failed to regulate opioid prescriptions contributing to the nationwide opioid crisis.

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