The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Nov. 18 rescinded a Trump administration rule that ensured faith-based social service agencies that provide adoption and foster care would continue receiving federal funding for services that follow their religious beliefs. Opponents of the rule modification, put in place early this year in the waning days of…Read More
After nearly a half century of legal abortion throughout the United States, that precedent could fall — or stand — through one critical case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet what makes it possibly the most significant abortion case in decades? The Supreme Court on Dec. 1 will hear arguments in the case of…Read More
Social media gets blamed for many of America’s ills, including the polarization of our politics and the erosion of truth itself. But proving that harms have occurred to all of society is hard. Far easier to show is the damage to a specific class of people: adolescent girls, whose rates of depression, anxiety, and self-injury…Read More
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) – A federal judge has denied a stay of execution for death row inmate Bigler Stouffer. Attorneys for Stouffer argued the lethal injection drugs currently being used in Oklahoma are unconstitutional. They had hoped to get him added to the lawsuit challenging the state’s execution method. Those protocols are at the center…Read More
The Oklahoma Corrections Department has agreed that condemned prisoners in the future can have a personal spiritual advisor in the execution chamber. The spiritual advisor will have to pass a background check. Confirmation of the policy change came Monday during a hearing on a death row inmate’s request for an execution stay. The inmate, Bigler Jobe…Read More
On Dec. 1, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Many legal experts say the case presents the most momentous test yet of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. At issue is the constitutionality of a 2018 Mississippi law…Read More
Oklahoma’s Attorney General joined a nationwide investigation into Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, and one of its platform’s impacts on young users. “It’s going to be a little bit of a challenge,” said Patrick Allmond, the owner of Focus Digital Media. “What we have to remember about these social media companies – they don’t…Read More
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. said Wednesday that a recent memo from the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department showed the Biden administration’s disregard for Americans’ First Amendment rights. His comments came on the same day that Fox News reported on HHS’ effort to rescind Trump-era measures for beefing up religious liberty protections. “The memo is…Read More
Oklahoma Gov. J. Kevin Stitt today commuted the death sentence of an inmate, hours before his scheduled execution. Julius Jones, who was scheduled to be executed today at 4 p.m. for a murder he says he did not commit, will have to serve a life imprisonment instead, without the possibility of parole. “After prayerful consideration…Read More
“I applaud his commitment to seeking justice while providing the condemned an opportunity for redemption,” the archbishop said in a Nov. 18 statement. Stitt reduced Jones’ sentence to life in prison without parole, partially following a recommendation from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board but veering from that recommendation, reached in a 3-1 vote Nov.…Read More
An Oklahoma Teacher of the Year nominee, Bristow Middle School teacher Lauren Vandever, has declared that it is important to be supportive of children exploring transgender transition. “I am not transgender. I’ve never experienced being transgender or on the LGBTQ spectrum,” Vandever said. “But I definitely think it is something that is an important thing…Read More
Gov. Kevin Stitt announced that he has commuted Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones’ sentence to life without the possibility of parole. Jones was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of Edmond businessman and father Paul Howell. The death row inmate has maintained his innocence and has garnered national attention. Stitt’s decision comes more…Read More
The pro-life Susan B. Anthony List launched a $2.5 million ad campaign Wednesday ahead of oral arguments at the Supreme Court for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. SBA List’s television and digital ads “highlight scientific advances that reveal the humanity of unborn children and the extremism of U.S. policy that allows unlimited late-term abortion up…Read More
The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) is considering revoking authority the former Trump administration delegated for the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to prevent violations of religious liberty – prompting concerns about conscience protections under Secretary Xavier Becerra. A draft memo obtained by Fox News targets two actions related to the First Amendment from…Read More
An Oklahoma Teacher of the Year nominee, Bristow Middle School teacher Lauren Vandever, has declared that it is important to be supportive of children exploring transgender transition. “I am not transgender. I’ve never experienced being transgender or on the LGBTQ spectrum,” Vandever said. “But I definitely think it is something that is an important thing…Read More
Gov. Kevin Stitt announced that he has commuted Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones’ sentence to life without the possibility of parole. Jones was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of Edmond businessman and father Paul Howell. The death row inmate has maintained his innocence and has garnered national attention. Stitt’s decision comes more…Read More
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Wednesday recommended clemency for another death row inmate in part because of concerns about the last execution. “That process is obviously flawed,” board member Larry Morris said before voting to recommend clemency. “We have had individuals on the table suffering for 20 and 30 minutes apiece. And I don’t think…Read More
A group of Republican lawmakers are now calling on the governor to grant clemency to Julius Jones just seven days before his scheduled execution. Representatives John Talley, Logan Phillips, Kevin McDugle, Preston Stinson and Garry Mize released a joint statement on Thursday, some saying there are too many loose ends in the case to sentence…Read More
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath Wednesday to open an investigation into possible criminality involving the availability of pornography in the state’s public schools. The governor said in a letter to Morath that “the presence of pornography in schools is not only inappropriate, but it is also against the law.”…Read More
Parents in Virginia weren’t thinking about starting a movement when they went to school board meetings to push for the reopening of their children’s classrooms after the COVID-19 lockdowns. But as they lobbied for in-person learning, they learned more about what their children were being taught and started asking questions, rousing other parents to action…Read More
Oklahoma schools—in both rural and suburban districts—are providing students with sexually explicit materials and undermining parental rights in other ways, according to parents who have spoken out publicly at recent school board meetings. The response from school officials has been mixed. “If we had more accountability, didn’t have this type of material available, weren’t focused…Read More
Gov. Kevin Stitt has ordered the Oklahoma Health Department to stop issuing gender-neutral birth certificates. After Oklahoma issued its first nonbinary birth certificate last month, Stitt signed an executive order Monday to block the state from issuing more birth certificates with an “X” gender marker. In the order, Stitt said that by issuing a gender-neutral birth certificate, the health department…Read More
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Ramirez v. Collier on Tuesday, Nov. 9, almost two months after the court delayed a scheduled execution over a question about the role of spiritual advisors in the death chamber. The court will consider the constitutionality of Texas’ prohibitions on a spiritual advisor touching a condemned prisoner…Read More
A federal appeals court has halted President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for larger businesses, marking a temporary victory for the Right’s resistance to the measure. A three-judge panel issued the ruling Saturday, saying petitioners offered significant cause to believe there are “grave statutory and constitutional issues” with the federal order. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who…Read More
Oklahoma County Commissioner Kevin Calvey said Monday he is running for district attorney and, if elected, will drop “bogus” criminal cases against police officers involved in fatal incidents. Calvey, 55, is the fourth Republican to announce for the 2022 race. In his announcement, he directly criticized District Attorney David Prater, who is retiring. “Unlike our current…Read More
The Oklahoma State Department of Education’s website includes or directs teachers to materials that tout themes common to Critical Race Theory (CRT), a Marxist-derived theory that views issues through a lens of racial privilege and often divides groups along racial lines as either privileged or oppressed. While those materials are not explicitly labeled as CRT,…Read More
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics says Oklahoma is now the number one black market supplier of illegal marijuana in the country. There are 8,500 medical marijuana grow licenses in Oklahoma and agents say 25 percent of them are run by criminal organizations from places like China, Russia and Mexico. People all over Green Country tell…Read More
The New York Times published a report that Texas has reduced abortions by half since the passage of the state’s Heartbeat Law, which bans abortions after a heartbeat can be detected. “In September, after Texas enacted the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation, the number of legal abortions performed there dropped 50 percent from…Read More
Students at a Catholic high school in San Francisco staged a walkout last month to protest an all-school assembly which featured a pro-life speaker. Despite the students’ actions, the school’s president defended the talk as “an opportunity to come together in order to learn more about the dignity of human life.” Archbishop Riordan High School,…Read More
The most powerful tool for racial segregation the American government ever had was its school system—not just in the past, but today. A new data-mapping tool from the Urban Institute shows in shocking detail how effective the government school monopoly is, in Oklahoma and elsewhere, at continuing to enforce racial segregation. If we’re serious about…Read More
We are only a month into the Supreme Court’s 2021-22 term and abortion already appears to be this season’s defining topic. The court heard arguments in two cases on Monday related to the Texas Heartbeat Act, which bans most abortions after the fetal heartbeat is detected (which is usually about six weeks after conception). And…Read More
The Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in two cases challenging the Texas abortion law that bans most abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy. The court will hear arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas, both of which challenge the Texas abortion law. On Monday, the court will…Read More
The board voted 3-1 in favor of granting clemency for Jones, who has been on death row for more than 20 years for the 1999 murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell. One board member recused themselves from the vote. Along with clemency, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended commuting Jones’ death sentence to life…Read More
The board voted 3-1 in favor of granting clemency for Jones, who has been on death row for more than 20 years for the 1999 murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell. One board member recused themselves from the vote. Along with clemency, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended commuting Jones’ death sentence to life…Read More