TRANSCRIPT
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy, and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher Shawn Ashley. We're going to start today with the courts. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has determined that a 2025 law designed to impose limits on the citizen initiative petition process is unconstitutional. It was a narrow decision, Shawn, but very significant.
Shawn Ashley: It was. When the bill was considered by the legislature, proponents argued it would strengthen the initiative petition process, but opponents said it would undermine it. The court agreed with the opponents of the law, but only five to four. Justice Noma Gurich wrote the majority opinion and said that the U.S. Supreme Court includes the circulation of initiative petitions among First Amendment rights. Gurich also wrote that because the right of initiative and referendum petitions is sacred within the Oklahoma Constitution, that the court's majority applied an undue burden test and weighed the statute's regulatory benefits against its constitutional burdens. The majority opinion found most of the law's requirements either violated the First Amendment or posed an undue burden on the petition process.
Dick Pryor: The Supreme Court also recently heard arguments in another initiative petition case. It concerns State Question 836 that would let voters decide whether the state's primaries should be open. What is the issue before the court in this case?
Shawn Ashley: This case’s focus is on the signature verification process. When the Secretary of State's office validated the signatures on the initiative petition for State Question 836, it tossed out nearly 57,000 of the 209,000 signatures that had been collected. The state question’s proponents want to know why each signature was rejected. And there's a state law that has certain requirements for that. The Secretary of State's office indicated it could produce a report of the rejected signatures which some members of the court seem to suggest they might be inclined to order. We'll have to wait and see how that turns out.
Dick Pryor: Staying with legal matters, Attorney General Gentner Drummond has reached a deal to drop the murder charge against an Oklahoma death row inmate who came within days of execution nine times. What's the reasoning behind this latest development in the case against Richard Glossip?
Shawn Ashley: Drummond said Thursday quote, “Richard Glossip finally took some measure of responsibility for the murder of Barry Van Treese. While allowing Glossip to plead guilty to the lesser related charge of accessory to first-degree murder was a difficult decision for me and more importantly the Van Treese family, we both recognize that this path ensures a conviction related to Mr. Van Treese's murder and gives us the best chance to secure additional prison time for Glossip.”
Glossip was accused of planning the 1997 murder of Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Trees, and he was originally convicted and sentenced to death in 1998. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals reversed that conviction in 2001, and Glossip was retried, convicted and sentenced to death again in 2004. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed Glossip's 2004 murder conviction on prosecutorial misconduct grounds in 2025. Now, Glossip has already served 30 years in prison. The accessory to first degree murder charge carries the penalty of up to 45 years in prison. And Glossip’s attorney hopes he will receive no additional prison time.
Dick Pryor: Now that we are past the general election, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission has announced it will hold public hearings in early December to consider proposed rule changes, including requiring disclosure of advertising that is AI-generated. That's become a big issue in campaigns this year.
Shawn Ashley: It certainly has. And one of the proposed rules being considered by the Ethics Commission would require ads with AI images to disclose that the images are fake or that the voices are fake, much like the ads must disclose who funds them. The Commission has been talking about this proposal since June. There are a series of other proposals that will be put before the Commission when it holds its public hearing on December 3rd. And we should see the text of those rules no later than five days before that public hearing.
Dick Pryor: What's coming up in the week ahead at the Capitol?
Shawn Ashley: Newly elected and re-elected senators will be sworn in during a ceremony Monday at 10 a.m. House members will be sworn in Tuesday at 2 p.m., and then the bill filing process gets underway.
Dick Pryor: All right, thank you Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find video of Capitol Insider segments on the KGOU You Tube channel. Audio and transcripts are at kgou.org. And look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
Announcer: Midlife brings a lot of changes. Your Turn with Allison Aubrey is a new podcast to help you navigate the twists and turns. From health and relationships to creativity and purpose, we can help steer your next chapter with Your Turn with Allison Aubrey. Find it on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Listeners like you provide essential funding for KGOU’s news reports, including Capitol Insider, available in podcasts, online, on the air and on You Tube. Support Capitol Insider and this station at KGOU.org.
KGOU is the winner of the 2025 Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Metro Radio Division “Best of Show” award.
