Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice

It is more critical than ever that #publiced advocates remain informed and intelligent about the agenda to dismantle public education in Oklahoma and now across the US. Oklahoma's state superintendent has been vocal about his desire to shut down the US Department of Education, leaving billions of dollars to students (particularly disabled students and students in poverty) either undispersed or unallocated. Our students cannot afford this loss and neither can our communities. Read Dr. Blatt's post on the #project2025 agenda for public ed, and get ready to gear up in opposition. You can read the article here: https://lnkd.in/gpuS4NA9

This is incredible news for this class of incredibly vulnerable Oklahomans. These folks have been waiting in jail for mental health care that will restore them to competency so that they can proceed with their criminal trials. The State of Oklahoma had them waiting years to receive care. With this settlement they will get the treatment they need and are entitled to under the Constitution. OK Appleseed served as named plaintiff and guardian-ad-litem to several of the class members. We thank our class counsels Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers PLLC, Oklahoma Disability Law Center, and separately Attorney General Gentner Drummond for their tireless work to bring this issue to a close. https://lnkd.in/gA9cqZcQ

Our work at OK Appleseed is more vital than ever. We know you’re tired. We know you’re tapped out. If you are feeling lost, volunteer with us. Connect with one of our organizers. Send us a donation, if you can. We’re in this with you—we’ll take it one day at a time. Together. You can further our work by donating at okappleseed.kindful.com ??

Election day is here. We can never forget or underestimate the efforts of the generations before us in securing our rights to vote. Heroes were made ensuring we can get to the polls today! Susan B. Anthony paved the way for women's suffrage, fighting tirelessly for the 19th Amendment. Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped organize the first women's rights convention and pushed for women's right to vote. Ida B. Wells stood against racial injustice and helped lead anti-lynching campaigns, advocating for Black women's suffrage. Fannie Lou Hamer's fearless voice demanded voting rights for African Americans, helping spark the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the Civil Rights Movement, with peaceful protests that transformed access to the ballot box. Thurgood Marshall, as a pioneering lawyer and Supreme Court justice, dismantled legal segregation and defended voting rights in the courts. Ella Baker empowered grassroots activism and was a key organizer in the fight for Black voting rights in the Jim Crow South. Bob Moses led voter registration drives in the face of violence, expanding Black voter participation in 1960s Mississippi. Ruth Bader Ginsburg protected voting rights through her judicial rulings, defending equality and justice for all. We vote because so many have fought and sacrificed to ensure marginalized populations could become a part of the American political fabric. Make your voice heard! ????#WhyWeVote?#VotingRights?#HonorTheirLegacy

NEW OUT TODAY: OKLAHOMA'S COMPETENCY RESTORATION LAWSUIT SAGA. Gov. Stitt and Speaker McCall voted on Oct. 8th to reject a watershed mental health consent decree designed to revolutionize Oklahoma's mental health competency system. The lawsuit that spurred the decree, Briggs et. al. v. Friesen et. al., which Oklahoma Appleseed is involved in as next-friend for the lead plaintiff, was filed in March 2023, and the consent decree was announced in June 2024. Although many key questions remain to be resolved, the Stitt and McCall's decision to reject the decree could mean that the case will now head to trial, postponing the inevitable outcome. What is certain, however, is that Oklahomans suffering from severe mental illness will, for the foreseeable future, continue to go without the care they need and deserve. And Oklahoma taxpayers could be on the hook for millions in attorney fees that could've been easily avoided. Thanks to our Director of Research and Strategic Impact, David Blatt, for drafting this piece explaining this dire situation. #endmentalhealthstigma?#mentalhealth?#criminaljustice?#lawsuit?#oklahoma https://lnkd.in/gjtp4Z3t

More than 30 Oklahomans – including parents and children, public school teachers and faith leaders – today filed a lawsuit urging the Oklahoma Supreme Court to block state Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ mandate that all public schools incorporate the Bible into their curricula. The lawsuit, Rev. Lori Walke v. Ryan Walters, also asks the court to stop the state from spending millions of taxpayer dollars on Bibles to support the mandate. The 32 plaintiffs include 14 public school parents, four public school teachers and three faith leaders who object to Walters’ extremist agenda that imposes his personal religious beliefs on other people's children – in violation of Oklahomans’ religious freedom and the separation of church and state. The plaintiffs come from a variety of faith traditions, including Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian (U.S.A.) and United Church of Christ, and some identify as atheist, agnostic or nonreligious. Some are of Indigenous heritage, and some have family situations – such as LGBTQ+ members or children with special educational needs – that cause particular concerns around teaching the Bible in public schools, especially around bullying. The plaintiffs are represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU , the ACLU of Oklahoma, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and us, Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gxn429KN

NEW OUT TODAY--The Truth Will Always Come Out: Prosecutorial Misconduct, Brady, and Lack of Justice in Oklahoma "The truth will always come out," is what Cory Atchison testified from the stand to District Attorney Tim Harris during his trial for a murder he did not commit. He was released and exonerated in 2019 after a 28-year fight to go free. In modern criminal law, there is no more powerful and unchecked position than that of the prosecutor. Our system of justice completely relies on the good faith and morals of district attorneys, from the rank-and-file Assistant District Attorneys trying cases to the elected DAs overseeing entire offices. Nowhere is that duty more prominently exposed than in the context of prosecutorial misconduct, more specifically in a DA’s failure to adhere to their duty to disclose evidence to the defense. In a criminal trial, the State possesses all the evidence against you–from 911 calls, to police reports, investigatory files, and evidence collected at the scene. It is the duty of the rank-and-file prosecutor assigned to your case to look through all the evidence against you–the defendant–and determine what they must turn over to your attorney. But in an adversarial system of justice, the prosecutor is both responsible for your prosecution and responsible to make sure justice is done. Oftentimes, the responsibility to do justice is overshadowed by the desire to win. Read the full report at okappleseed.org/brady

Our Executive Director, Colleen McCarty, and Board Chair, Dr. Kathy LaFortune, presented today to the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association on the Oklahoma Survivors Act! We trained about thirty lawyers in person and fifty on zoom. This is the first of many trainings as we begin to implement this new law for the benefit of so many Oklahomans. #oksurvivorsact

We are so excited about our growing team! Unstoppable is what they are. 1. Abby Gore graduated from Colorado College with a Bachelor’s Degree in History-Political Science with a specialization of the Middle East and North Africa. During the summers, Abby interned with the Tulsa Area United Way. In 2017, Abby began her legal education at the University of Oklahoma College of Law and earned her Juris Doctor in 2020 with a certificate in International Law. During law school, Abby was captain of the Phillip Jessup International Moot Court. Her written and oral advocacy led to her induction into the national Order of Barristers.. After becoming a licensed attorney in 2020, Abby joined the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office as an Assistant Public Defender. Abby represented hundreds of indigent clients in their criminal matters. During this time, Abby worked to protect her clients’ constitutional rights during hearings, motions, and jury trials. 2. Exiquio Gonzalez (Zeke) is living Life after being sentenced to LIFE. He was sentenced to LIFE in prison for a conspiracy to distribute CDS (marijuana) charge. He was represented by our Executive Director in 2018 and was granted a commutation (time served) and released from prison. Zeke never looked back as he has never let his past define him. His reentry to society was not easy. He was released and started volunteering at a youth center and delivering tortillas to pay the bills. Since his release a little over six years ago he has accomplished numerous goals. He received his Bachelor’s degree and his MBA in Business. He believes his current path to be his calling— a perspective an encounter in prison helped him gain. That calling is to serve the younger generation. He considers his greatest accomplishment to be opening a nonprofit fitness center appropriately named Celda 151 (Cell 151). Their coaching and training staff include the formerly incarcerated and military personnel. Zeke is moving from being on the Board of OK Appleseed to joining the team as a full time organizer. He will be directing his energy to listening and learning from the community so Oklahoma can tackle the many injustices in its criminal legal system.

We’re grateful to the members of the Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee for answering the call to help the kids in the FCJJ. We sent a letter to every legislator last month and asked for an investigation into the abuses happening at the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice (FCJJ). This Committee called us this week and asked us to present. It’s an open meeting, so meet us there if you want accountability and action. #youthjustice #juvenilejustice #endtheabuse Read our report on the horrific situation at the FCJJ here: https://lnkd.in/gQCFT_c6