Justice or Just Us?

Impoverish a City Councilor

Oklahomans don’t need to look to New York, D.C, or Fulton County, Georgia to see the corruption of lawfare in practice. We can see it in graphic detail in multiple local and state cases. We have seen it in the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA), the Judicial Nominating Committee (JNC), repeated cycles of attack on Republican officials (from governors to city councilors) over decades. We see the facilitation of corruption by Republicans with higher ambition and in the mindless narratives of indoctrinated media. They are killing our Liberty.

Most citizens grow up respecting the courts until they or their family are subject to abuse by the courts. But human rights come from Nature or Nature’s God and predate both law and government. Jewish and Christian Faith instruct to “give unto Cesar what is Cesar’s” but the coin of the realm in a constitutional republic is an informed, engaged public. All institutions of man are subject to decay, especially without independent oversight and, as necessary, correction.

Yet this week the Republican Super Majority in the Oklahoma House of Representatives denied citizens the right to vote to abolish the Judicial Nominating Committee at the direct demand of Speaker of the House Charles McCall. It is rumored McCall wants to run for governor and, therefore, wants lawyer money to fund his ambition.

This Justice series begins at the local level. Tulsa City Councilor Grant Miller has been denied entry into the Oklahoma Bar because of politics. Specifically, the sworn testimony from RINO Mayor G.T. Bynum and three Leftist City Councilors. They failed to defeat him in open debate or at the ballot box, so they seek to deny Miller employment in his chosen field. Of course, Miller is appealing and the fight far from over.

Miller filed his appeal (SCBD No. 7626) to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on April 12 against the Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners (OBBE) pursuant to Rule 11 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Practice of Law in the State of Oklahoma. The standard of proof rests on Miller by the preponderance of evidence which he has provided, the burden then shifted to the OBBE. Any reasonable doubt must be resolved in Miller’s favor. Note that the loss of a professional license is more than a monetary loss, it is a loss of a person’s livelihood and loss of reputation and, in this case, an attack on his political viability as an elected official.

Political harm has been attempted on Miller. The local paper published an article with the headline “City councilor lacks ‘fitness to practice law,’ Oklahoma Bar Examiners say.” February 21. (Click here for that story.) They bragged the decision was unanimous and he could “reapply to the bar in 24 months.” Of course, the paper did not include the fact that Miller was entitled to appeal.

Miller’s evidence of fitness to practice law presented to the OBBE includes overwhelming accomplishments of good character. Miller is a combat veteran of the U.S. Army who served in Baghdad, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom where he demonstrated exceptional courage and was later honorably discharged. Serving as a police officer in Liberal, Kansas, Miller received multiple commendations for performance including program development in anti-gang and anti-bullying for middle school students. As a City Councilor, Miller worked to improve transit resources for veterans and, during law school, served pro bono at a legal clinic. Miller has never been arrested for a serious crime and his only arrest was eighteen years ago when he was eighteen years old on a misdemeanor.

With no disciplines or negative character comments, Miller completed his undergraduate degree program summa cum laude in eleven months and law school (Tulsa University) in three years.

In his appeal, Miller notes “The total absence of evidence one would expect to justify a Rule 11 disqualification hearing. Evidence of a serious criminal history, drug or alcohol abuse, character-based discipline in college or law school, was never offered by the OBBE” and, further, “The OBBE’s non-testimonial purported evidence was unreliable, inconclusive, and capable of multiple conclusions…”

The apparent motive the document identifies is “to attack Mr. Miller and to smear his reputation for reasons obviously based in differences in political positions and approaches.” In fact, the evidence presented is protected free speech under the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article II Section 22 of the Oklahoma Constitution.

RINO Mayor Bynum also went on broadcast news to complain, “With Grant Miller, it is all about himself, promoting himself and using his position to enact revenge on people that he thinks have done him wrong. And that is not something worthy of the Tulsa City Council.” The local paper reported that quote and, again, ignored Miller’s ability to file an appeal. (Click here for that story.)

From multiple conversations and observations of this writer, Grant Miller is a critical thinker – something rare on the Tulsa City Council. He filed as a Libertarian but later registered Republican because they are the only ones active in Tulsa public policy debate that consider and appreciate his perspectives.

The OBBE also “attempts to assassinate Mr. Miller’s character due to his brief nine-month stint as an intern of a licensed member of the OBA, Ron Durbin.” The Durbin story is one this writer will soon cover in detail on its own but suffice to say that Durbin is also under attack by the power elite of the OBA.

Grant Miller responded to this writer requesting comment saying, “I am confident in the Supreme Court and their ability to fairly assess the facts and I believe I will receive a favorable ruling on appeal.”

Ray Carter writing for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) April 12 revealed, “Public records show that 22 of the 32 JNC members selected by the Oklahoma Bar Association from 2000 to today (nearly 69 percent) have directed most of their campaign donations to Democrats, including to presidential candidates like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Only one bar member serving on the JNC since 2000 overwhelmingly donated to Republican candidates.

“That trend has continued with the latest batch of Oklahoma Bar Association members serving on the JNC, five of whom are registered Democrats. One of the bar association’s current JNC members, David K. Petty, was a campaign donor to the Democratic presidential campaigns of Obama in 2012 and Clinton in 2016, as well as the Oklahoma Democratic gubernatorial campaigns of Drew Edmondson in 2018 and Joy Hofmeister in 2022.

“It’s not surprising the Oklahoma Bar Association’s JNC members are often Democratic partisans. Campaign-donation records show the OBA’s leadership is also stacked with Democratic partisans.

“Of the 17 members of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s board of governors, public records indicate that nine have been campaign donors to Democratic candidates. Only three members have donated exclusively to Republican candidates, and those have often been small sums in minor races,” Carter continued. (Click here for Ray Carter’s full story.)

In total, the attack on Tulsa City Councilor Grant Miller is local and state lawfare in practice for political purposes. There are other examples throughout Oklahoma. This is made possible by the OBA, JNC and the Trial Lawyers Association. It has been going on for generations and this story is only the first in a series detailing truly anti-constitutional efforts in operation in Oklahoma.

Next week, Straight Up will focus on party political divides, both Democrat and Republican. The key question is, how many lanes of competing interest can a viable party maintain? What shall we do when someone in party leadership is solely focused on their own ambition and celebrity rather than the public policies of good governance?

Finally, please understand that there are many intelligent, good, and honorable men and women practicing law, but the court system in Oklahoma is corrupt. Our national and international readers may find value applicable to other areas but our focus here is fixing Oklahoma.

If a lawyer criticizes a judge, for example, they can lose their license to make a living. If a judge does not apply the law, then law doesn’t exist until recognized by a higher more costly court. If judges don’t follow the law or read trial documents, but rely only on partisan attorneys then why do we pay the Oklahoma Legislature to write laws?

If law is used to conduct political prosecutions, are any one of us free? Totalitarian countries allow personal freedom if you do what the power elite say in the proper way with the proper respect and don’t inadvertently step on powerful toes which easily take offense.

That is not how America was established and patriots must return individual liberty to the people. The public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because the ideas are themselves offensive to some. The law’s protection of free expression recognizes “no such thing as a false idea.”

Grant Miller has established a GoFundMe account in his “Fight Against Political Speech Suppression” and readers are encouraged to make any size donation to help him. (Click here for that site.)

Minority communities worldwide have often asked is it “Justice or just us?” For if injustice can be allowed to be done to one, it can be forced on everyone.

See Donald J. Trump for more detailed examples.