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Last Fall, OKPNS reported on the harassment techniques being used in Oklahoma to intimidate citizens from signing petitions. The Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative, the signatures for which were being collected in this video, is still in limbo, with the right of Oklahomans to vote on the issue being debated.
OKPNS has covered extensively the attempts by Oklahoma’s attorney General Drew Edmondson to block the citizen initiative process, in the case of the “Oklahoma 3,” in which Paul Jacob and two others are facing possible prison sentences of up to ten years on technicalities of Oklahoma residency requirements.
This problem, of trying to intimidate citizens who want to petition their state government is not isolated to Oklahoma. In this video, a township in the Detroit, MI area are facing the problem of state employees trying to physically block township citizens from signing a petition to recall a politician.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOBivWps5Hk&hl=en]
OKPNS had the privilege of interviewing Paul Jacob today after his scheduling-hearing in Oklahoma City. Paul Jacob, along with Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter, now called the “Oklahoma 3” have been indicted on felony charges of violating Oklahoma’s statute requiring petition circulators to be residents of Oklahoma. Jacob and the others are denying the charges.
The preliminary hearing will be July 23, 2008, at the Oklahoma County Courthouse, and Jacob is encouraging anyone who lives within driving distance to be there to defend the Oklahoma 3, and support the voter initiative process.
Paul Jacob talks about his Save the Initiative Blog Tour, and what supporters within Oklahoma and nationwide can do to not only save the Oklahoma 3, but also the ballot initiative process. He says he doesn’t feel the media has done an adequate job of covering this topic, and that it is up to the bloggers to get the word out:
Also see:
The scheduling-hearing for Paul Jacob of the “Oklahoma 3″ will be held today, at the Oklahoma County Courthouse at 1:30pm.
The background of this case is detailed on the Free Paul Jacob website:
National term limits leader and initiative rights advocate Paul Jacob and two others were indicted in Oklahoma October 2, 2007, on felony charges of violating the state’s statute requiring petition circulators to be residents of Oklahoma.
“This indictment is not about the law, but about politics—ugly, anti-democratic politics,” said Paul Jacob, president of the pro-initiative group Citizens in Charge and a senior fellow at the Sam Adams Alliance, a grassroots political organization. “Their prosecution is a 100-percent politically-motivated attempt to threaten and intimidate me, and any other citizen wishing to petition their government.”
Jacob and his co-defendents — Susan Johnson, president of National Voter Outreach, a petition management firm, and Rick Carpenter, the proponent of the controversial 2005 initiative that would have set a cap on state government spending that could only be lifted by a vote of the people — pled not guilty….(more)
At his arraignment in January, Jacob said that he has “never heard of a prosecutor, other than maybe Nifong, to play it as political as Drew Edmondson,” is in his current case – which is a dispute over whether or not he, Johnson and Carpenter fulfilled Oklahoma’s residency requirements prior to collecting signatures for a ballot initiative which did not become law. Last October, Jacob released a statement:
What Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is trying to do to me is wrong. In America, we cherish the right to engage in politics, to speak our minds, to promote our candidate, to work to pass a voter initiative, without fear of reprisal. That is why today is such a sad day, not only for me, but for all of us who love the initiative process and the right of citizens to control their government….
Stay tuned here for updates on this case.
Michael McNutt of the Capitol Bureau reports that the House subcommittee on elections and redistricting passed two measures yesterday, to be heard by the House Rules Committee, which would make collecting signatures in Oklahoma more difficult. The measures are aimed at preventing fraudulent and duplicate signatures on ballots.
HB 2869, by Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, would require those passing petitions be registered voters of Oklahoma. State law now just states they have to be qualified electors.
His bill also would prohibit those collecting signatures to be paid for each signature they collect.
[...]
HB 3350, by Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Oklahoma City, is a similar bill aimed at trying to refine the initiative petition process. His measure beefs up the penalties for those who collect fraudulent signatures as well as for those who fraudulently sign petitions.
Paul Jacob, who is one of the “Oklahoma 3” being tried right now for allegedly collecting signatures as non-residents of Oklahoma (allegations which are demonstrably untrue, according to Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter).
When I spoke to Mr. Jacob on in January, one of the things he explained to me was that for a citizen, deciding to begin an initiative (e.g. for term limits, spending limits, government accountability, etc..) requires that citizen to count the cost, personally, and those costs can be astromical, personally and professionally. There is an enormous amount of time (away from family, career, personal life), and often a huge financial burden involved. But when the additional cost of legal retaliation by the government becomes a consideration, many citizens decide they simply cannot take that risk, and will “shut up.”
Jacob’s goal, in working through his own legal battle, through his foundation (Citizens in Charge), through the Sam Adams Alliance and Foundation, and now through the “Save the Initiative Blog Tour” is to reduce the fear of such legal action against citizens by their government.
From Ft. Hard Knox:
By Jenn Sierra
Paul Jacob’s arraignment is at 1:30 pm CST tomorrow (Today). He’s been reindicted for on charges that he and two others violated residency requirements for petition signature gatherers. Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma’s Attorney General, keeps, in effect, “moving the goal post,” on these signature requirements, retroactively, to try to assure that his legal action against the “Oklahoma 3″ is finally taken seriously.
His actions have been quite bizarre, not to mention inappropriate. Once you have an opportunity to research the facts of this case for yourself (there are several links following to get you started), please consider calling the attorney general’s office in Oklahoma to let him know how you feel about this re-indictment. Remember to be respectful and polite, and to objectively state your opinion (personal attacks are never appropriate). The phone # is 405-521-3921. Read more…
Related:
W.A.D. Edmondson
From The Weblog For Mr. GOP:
We all remember Boss Hog (or was it Hogg) from “The Dukes of Hazzard” Boss was a corrupt little man eager to get the arm of the law fully enforced on any minor (or supposed) infraction. At the same time he used his power to secure that he would never have any negative implications reflected on his own nefarious activities.
To the surprise of very few, Oklahoma has its own “Boss Hog”. What may not be known is the degree to which he has empowered himself to act with impunity while politically and legally persecuting those who dare to disagree with him. It will also be of no surprise to suggest that our own Attorney General Drew Edmondson is Oklahoma’s version of the overstuffed, height challenged, self-important hick from the back woods. Read more…
Related:
The News Star (Monroe, LA): In Oklahoma, freedom’s not OK
The arraignment of the Oklahoma 3, regarding the new indictment issued through Attorney General Edmondson’s office, has been scheduled for Monday, January 28.
Supporters of the Oklahoma 3 have scheduled a noon news conference outside the courthouse, just prior to the 1:30 pm arraignment.
If you live close to Oklahoma City, we hope you will try to come out and show your support at the news conference, to let the Oklahoma 3 know that we’re behind them (and to let AG Edmondson know that we’re not behind him!).
Where:
Oklahoma County Courthouse
321 Park Ave.
Oklahoma City
When:
Monday, January 28
News Conference: Noon
Arraignment: 1:30 pm
W. A. D. Edmondson
From FreePaulJacob.com:
The arraignment of the Oklahoma 3, regarding the new indictment issued through Attorney General Edmondson’s office, has been scheduled for Monday, January 28.
Supporters of the Oklahoma 3 have scheduled a noon news conference outside the courthouse, just prior to the 1:30 pm arraignment. Read more…
The Chicago Daily Observer ranked W. A. D. Edmondson’s indictment of Paul Jacob – along with two others – as one of their “Seven Most Underreported Stories of 2007.” As we all know, all seven of those slots could have legitimately contained stories from Oklahoma. Luckily for W.A.D., he has the bought and paid for, lazy Oklahoma press, to protect him.
From the Chicago Daily Observer:
“An actual local Civil Rights activist was arrested and brought in chains before an Oklahoma court charged with circulating petitions as non residents of the state. Paul Jacob, a fellow at Chicago’s Sam Adams Alliance faces 10 years in prison for practicing the 1st amendment, in a prominent case in the eyes of the Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine, yet totally ignored by the Chicago Media.” Read more…
Related:
Doug Bandow: Oklahoma’s Boss Tweed: Drew Edmondson