Tom Colbert
Tom Colbert was a justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He served on the court from 2004 to 2021. He retired from the court on February 1, 2021.[1]
He was appointed to the court on October 7, 2004, by Democratic Governor Brad Henry.[2] He was retained by voters in 2008, and again in 2014 and 2020.[3]
In November 2012, Colbert's fellow justices chose him to be the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. His term in that position lasted from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014.[4]
Colbert, who served as chief judge of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals prior to joining the state's highest court, was the first black justice to sit on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. When he was sworn in, Colbert said, "There are so many people across this country of all races and nationality that never thought they would live to see this day."[5]
Colbert retired on February 1, 2021. To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Education
Colbert earned his associate degree from Eastern Oklahoma State College in 1970. He earned his B.S. from Kentucky State University in 1973 and his M.A. from Eastern Kentucky University in 1976. He earned his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1982.[2]
Career
- 2004-2021: Justice, Oklahoma Supreme Court
- 2000-2004: Judge, Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals
- 1988-1989; 1999: Attorney, Oklahoma Department of Human Services
- 1987-2000: Attorney in private practice
- 1984-1986: Assistant district attorney, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
- 1982-1984: Assistant dean, Marquette University[2]
Awards and associations
- Member, American Bar Association
- National Bar Association
- Oklahoma Bar Association
- Participant, Track and Field Masters Level
- Tulsa County Bar Association[2]
Elections
2020
Oklahoma Supreme Court District 6
Tom Colbert was retained to District 6 of the Oklahoma Supreme Court on November 3, 2020 with 67.4% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
67.4
|
937,156 | ||
No |
32.6
|
453,366 | |||
Total Votes |
1,390,522 | ||||
|
|
2014
Colbert was retained to the Supreme Court with 62.6 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014. [3]
2008
Colbert was retained to the supreme court with 66.1% of the vote.[6]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Tom Colbert did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Black men facing danger, Justice says
Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Tom Colbert said that black males “are living in a dangerous time.” Speaking during a symposium at Langston University-Tulsa in January 2008, Colbert said black men are an endangered species and by 2020, 4.5 million black males are expected to be in prison.
Colbert also gave figures showing how black men are negatively affected in society. He said seven out of 10 black babies are born out of wedlock and 50 percent of black high school freshmen will not graduate. The symposium: “African American Men at the Corner of Progress and Peril,” drew attention to the problems black males face in America.[7]
Workers' comp doesn't cover stroke
The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals was wrong to grant workers' compensation benefits to a school cafeteria worker who suffered a stroke, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled. The Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court had denied Pamela Wilson's claim, and the denial was upheld by a three-judge panel of the Workers' Compensation Court. The Workers' Compensation Court denied Wilson's claim, finding that her vascular stress did not arise out of stress in excess of that experienced in the course of everyday living. But the Court of Civil Appeals disagreed, finding that the lower court had not based its decision on competent evidence. The Supreme Court vacated the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals and sustained the lower court's decision to deny Wilson's claim. Only Colbert disagreed with the decision to vacate the Appeals Court's ruling.[8]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Colbert received a campaign finance score of 0.26, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was less conservative than the average score of 0.33 that justices received in Oklahoma.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[9]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Oklahoma Justice Tom Colbert. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma, "The Supreme Court"
- Project Vote Smart, "Tom Colbert"
Footnotes
- ↑ Tulsa World, "First Black justice on Oklahoma Supreme Court to retire," February 1, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma, "Justice Tom Colbert, District No. 6"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Oklahoma Elections, "Candidate List, 2014 General Election," accessed October 17, 2014
- ↑ Wagoner Tribune, "Tom Colbert elected Chief Justice"
- ↑ BNET.com, "Tom Colbert is Oklahoma's first Black Supreme Court Justice," November 29, 2004
- ↑ Oklahoma Secretary of State, "2008 Election Results"
- ↑ The McCarville Report Online, "Justice Colbert: Black Men An Endangered Species," January 12, 2008
- ↑ Business Network
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
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