Oklahoma City: A Tulsa attorney who was rated as “ineligible” by the American Bar Association to serve as a federal judge was appointed Friday by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt to serve as the state’s next attorney general. was tapped.
After a two-month search that began in May following the abrupt ouster of Republican Mike Hunter, Stitt chose 66-year-old John O’Connor to fill the vacancy, giving the governor his increasingly controversial ties with some Native American tribes. I was given a colleague. state. Stitt and Hunter, both Republicans, occasionally clashed over various matters, including Stitts’ decision to renegotiate the states’ gaming compact with Native American tribes.
It was very important to me to find someone who was highly competent in the law, but more importantly I was looking for someone of high moral character who would do the right thing for the right reasons and never for personal gain. ,” Stitt said while announcing his pick in Tulsa.
As the states’ top law enforcers, we needed someone who was ready to fight and defend what was best for all 4 million Oklahomaans.”
Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice John Kane was formally sworn into office Friday afternoon during a ceremony at the state capitol.
Stitt said he had known O’Connor for more than 20 years and considered him a mentor” who helped mentor him when Stitt was CEO of a mortgage company.
O’Connor will have to run for the seat in a statewide election in 2022, and he indicated Tuesday that he “plans to do exactly that.”
I want to go out there, get my hands dirty, and I’m sure it will take more than 16 months,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor explicitly sided with the governor in opposition to the US Supreme Court’s decision last year in McGurt v. Oklahoma that a large part of eastern Oklahoma remains an Indian reservation. He said he expected the high court to reverse its position in the historic tribal sovereignty case.
For the prosecution of major federal crimes in federal court, if it’s not going to be reversed, we need to limit McGartt,” O’Connor said, expressing concern that the opinion in the case was written as that could potentially extend tribal sovereignty beyond criminal jurisdiction.
At least one Republican challenger, Tulsa Attorney Gentner Drummond, has filed paperwork indicating he plans to seek the position. Drummond lost to Hunter in the 2018 GOP primary by less than 300 votes and said Friday he was not impressed by the governors’ choice.
Drummond said in a statement, “While I respect his right to appoint the candidate of his choice, my passion to serve as the next elected Attorney General remains intact.”
O’Connor, an attorney for the Oklahoma-based firm Hall Astil, was nominated to a federal justice in 2018 by former President Donald Trump, but was removed from a Senate panel after the American Bar Association unanimously did not qualify him to serve. failed to proceed. In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Paul Moxley, then head of the Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, said that O’Connor’s unanimous rating was based on integrity and professional competence.
In a September 2018 letter, Moxley said that Tulsa-area lawyers questioned by the panel that O’Connor lacked trial experience and questioned his fitness to perform as a judge.
O’Connor has no experience trying jury cases in any court, has not appeared frequently in federal court in any capacity, and has no criminal experience whatsoever,” Moxley wrote.
Lawyers also indicated that in many cases O’Connor’s requests for legal fees were excessive, and that at least two complaints were made to the Oklahoma Bar Association about O’Connor’s overcharging and not being true.
Lawyers who had dealt with the nominee directly professionally cited other examples of his dishonesty and disregard for ethical and professional obligations,” Moxley wrote.
When asked to respond to the American Bar Association’s findings on Friday, O’Connor replied: “I’m happy to address that question, from a reporter and before going to the governor’s office.”
Stitt referred through a spokesperson to the national group’s 15-member panel, which unanimously voted O’Connor’s rating as an out-of-state, liberal special interest group and said that he had no say in his opinion. Don’t worry.
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