Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Oklahoma Supreme Court justice vacancy: John Reif (April 2019)
 |
|---|
| Reif Vacancy Oklahoma Supreme Court |
| Vacancy date |
| Vacancy status |
| Nomination date |
| September 17, 2019 |
| Table of contents |
|
Appointee candidates Selection process About Justice Reif |
| See also |
| Recent news External links Footnotes |
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R) appointed John Kane to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on September 17, 2019.[1] Kane replaced former Justice John Reif, who retired April 30, 2019. Reif announced his retirement in a statement on March 15, 2019.[2] Kane was Stitt's first nominee to the nine-member supreme court.
Under Oklahoma state law, in the event of a supreme court vacancy, the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission (OJNC) submits three names to the governor, who then appoints one to the court. The justice then serves until the next general election after he or she has served one year on the bench. If the governor does not appoint a replacement within 60 days, the chief justice then takes the responsibility.[3]
The appointee
- See also: M. John Kane IV
Kane was the Office 1 judge of the 10th District Court in Osage County from 2005 to 2019. Before his appointment to the 10th District, Kane practiced law in his family's law firm, Kane, Kane & Kane Law Offices, P.C. While working in private practice, Kane was also an administrative law judge, serving the Department of Human Services-Child Support Division, from 1999 to 2005 and an assistant district attorney from 1987 to 1989.[1]
Kane obtained a B.S. in agricultural economics and accounting from Oklahoma State University in 1984 and a J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1987.[1]
Appointee candidates and nominations
The OJNC submitted the following three applicants to Gov. Stitt for consideration to fill Justice Reif's vacant seat.[4]
- Judge Deborah Barnes
- Judge M. John Kane IV
- Judge Russell Vaclaw
Former candidates
The OJNC received seven applications to fill Justice Reif's vacant seat. According to The Oklahoman, six of the seven applicants were registered as Republican at the time of their application.[5]
- Judge David A. Bandy
- Judge Deborah Barnes
- Judge Sheila A. Condren
- Judge M. John Kane IV
- Attorney Sarah T. Lepak
- Judge Linda Thompson
- Judge Russell Vaclaw [5]
The selection process
At the time of the vacancy, Article VII of the Oklahoma Constitution determined the selection process of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The governor appointed a justice from a list of three candidates provided by the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission (OJNC). The appointed justice was required to come from the appropriate Supreme Court judicial district. The appointee served until the next general election, when they stood for retention. At that time, the replacement would be retained for a full six-year term or to serve out the unexpired term of their predecessor.[6]
If the governor did not choose a replacement within 60 days of the vacancy, the chief justice was responsible for appointing a successor.[7]
Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission (OJNC)
At the time of the vacancy, the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission (OJNC) was the state's selection commission that chose potential nominees for appointment by the governor to judicial positions on Oklahoma's appellate courts. It consisted of 15 members who joined the board by either election through the Oklahoma Bar Association, appointment by the governor, appointment by the president pro tempore of the state Senate and the speaker of the House, or selected by an eight-member majority of the other appointed and elected commission members.
When a vacancy was announced, interested individuals applied to fill it. The OJNC evaluated those individuals to determine if the applicants were qualified to serve as a judge in the state. When the commission completed its evaluation, it submitted a list of the three top applicants in writing to both the governor and the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.[8][9][10]
Qualifications
At the time of the vacancy, justices had to be at least 30 years old, a registered voter in the Supreme Court Judicial district they would represent for at least one year before filing for the position, and a licensed practicing attorney or judge (or both) in Oklahoma for five years prior to their appointment at the time of their election or appointment. The potential Justice had to maintain their certification as an attorney or judge during their tenure in office in order to remain in their position.[3]
About Justice Reif
- See also: John Reif
Reif was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2008. He served as the court's chief justice from 2015 to 2016. Prior to his service on the supreme court, Reif was a judge on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals from 1984 to 2007 and a special district judge on the Oklahoma District 14 court from 1981 to 1984. Reif was also assistant district attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a specialist with the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration for the Indian Nations Council of Government, and a police officer in Owasso, Oklahoma.[11]
Reif received his B.S. degree from the University of Tulsa in 1973 and his J.D. from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1977.[11]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2019
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2019
The following table lists vacancies to state supreme courts that opened in 2019. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2020.
| 2019 judicial vacancies filled by appointment | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Court | Date of Vacancy | Justice | Reason | Date Vacancy Filled | Successor |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Fred Lewis | Retirement | January 9, 2019 | Barbara Lagoa |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Barbara Pariente | Retirement | January 14, 2019 | Robert J. Luck |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Peggy Quince | Retirement | January 22, 2019 | Carlos Muñiz |
| Kentucky Supreme Court | January 31, 2019 | Bill Cunningham | Retirement | March 27, 2019 | David Buckingham |
| Mississippi Supreme Court | January 31, 2019 | William Waller | Retirement | December 19, 2018 | Kenny Griffis |
| North Carolina Supreme Court | February 28, 2019 | Mark Martin | Private sector[12] | March 1, 2019 | Cheri Beasley |
| North Carolina Supreme Court | March 1, 2019 | Cheri Beasley | Apppointed to new post[13] | March 11, 2019 | Mark Davis |
| Arizona Supreme Court | March 1, 2019 | John Pelander | Retirement | April 26, 2019 | James Beene |
| Oklahoma Supreme Court | April 10, 2019 | Patrick Wyrick | Elevation to a federal judgeship[14] | November 20, 2019 | Dustin Rowe |
| Oklahoma Supreme Court | April 30, 2019 | John Reif | Retirement | September 17, 2019 | M. John Kane IV |
| Arizona Supreme Court | July 3, 2019 | Scott Bales | Private sector[15] | September 4, 2019 | Bill Montgomery |
| Texas Supreme Court | July 31, 2019 | Jeff Brown | Elevation to a federal judgeship[16] | August 26, 2019 | Jane Bland |
| New Hampshire Supreme Court | August 23, 2019 | Robert Lynn | Retirement | January 7, 2021 | Gordon MacDonald |
| Virginia Supreme Court | September 1, 2019 | Elizabeth McClanahan | Retirement | February 15, 2019 | Teresa M. Chafin |
| Vermont Supreme Court | September 1, 2019 | Marilyn Skoglund | Retirement | December 5, 2019 | William Cohen |
| Kansas Supreme Court | September 8, 2019 | Lee Johnson | Retirement | December 16, 2019 | Evelyn Z. Wilson |
| Delaware Supreme Court | October 30, 2019 | Leo E. Strine Jr. | Retirement | November 7, 2019 | Collins Seitz Jr. |
| Iowa Supreme Court | November 15, 2019 | Mark Cady | Death | January 28, 2020 | Dana Oxley |
| Florida Supreme Court | November 19, 2019 | Robert J. Luck | Elevation to a federal judgeship[17] | September 14, 2020 | Jamie Rutland Grosshans |
| Florida Supreme Court | November 20, 2019 | Barbara Lagoa | Elevation to a federal judgeship[18] | May 26, 2020 | John D. Couriel |
| Kansas Supreme Court | December 17, 2019 | Lawton Nuss | Retirement | March 11, 2020 | Keynen Wall |
| Maine Supreme Court | December 2019 | Jeffrey Hjelm | Retirement | January 6, 2020 | Catherine Connors |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 OK.gov, "Governor Stitt appoints Judge Kane to Supreme Court of Oklahoma," September 17, 2019
- ↑ KOAM News, "OK Supreme Court justice announces retirement," March 17, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma, "The Justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court"
- ↑ The Oklahoman, "Stitt receives names of finalists for Supreme Court vacancy," July 31, 2019
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Oklahoman, "Oklahoma Supreme Court vacancy draws seven applicants, mostly judges and Republicans," June 23, 2019
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Oklahoma," accessed August 16, 2016
- ↑ Oklahoma Public Research System, "Section VII-B-4: Vacancy in Judicial Office - Filling," accessed August 29, 2014
- ↑ www.judicialselection.com, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Oklahoma," accessed December 30, 2013
- ↑ Oklahoma State Court Network, "Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission," accessed May 1, 2015
- ↑ Oklegal.net, "Oklahoma Constitution, Article VII-B, Section 4," accessed May 1, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Oklahoma State Courts Network, "Official biography of Judge Reif," accessed March 18, 2019
- ↑ Martin left the court to become the dean of Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
- ↑ Beasley was appointed chief justice of the court.
- ↑ Wyrick was confirmed to a seat on the Western District of Oklahoma on April 9, 2019.
- ↑ Bales left the court to become executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver.
- ↑ Brown was confirmed to a seat on the Southern District of Texas on July 31, 2019.
- ↑ Luck was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on November 19, 2019.
- ↑ Lagoa was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on November 20, 2019.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Oklahoma, Northern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Oklahoma, Northern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma
State courts:
Oklahoma Supreme Court • Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals • Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals • Oklahoma District Courts • Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court of Existing Claims
State resources:
Courts in Oklahoma • Oklahoma judicial elections • Judicial selection in Oklahoma
| |||||||
