Okla. Attorney Gen’l Seeks to Lock Up National Term Limits Leader
October 2nd, 2007 by PaulIndictment Blasted as “100% Politically-Motivated”
Case Could Chill Citizen Initiative Use
(Oklahoma City)—National term limits leader and initiative rights advocate Paul Jacob defiantly blasted his indictment by the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office 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 pled not guilty today in an Oklahoma City court, where the indictment was unsealed. Also entering not guilty pleas were two others named in the indictment: 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, only allowing the cap to be waived by a vote of the people.
“I did nothing wrong, unless trying to help Oklahoma citizens place a measure on the ballot for a vote of the people has now become a crime,” Jacob remarked. “After celebrating so many victories in the long, tough struggle for civil rights, it is shameful that Oklahoma authorities seem determined to harass those of us they deem ‘outside agitators.’”
Oklahoma’s residency requirement has been challenged in federal court by a newly formed initiative committee, Yes on Term Limits, that seeks to limit terms of statewide elected officials. In a ruling last month, Judge Timothy Leonard upheld the residency law regarding initiative petitions, but the case has now been appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Jacob has been the leading voice of the national term limits movement for the last 15 years, having been instrumental in organizing several record-setting national initiative drives. In 1992 and again in 1996, term limits was voted on in more states in a single election cycle than any other issue in the 100-year history of the voter initiative process.
Today, 14 states, including Oklahoma, have term limits on their state legislature, and 8 of the 10 largest cities in the nation have term limits.
For more information or to arrange an interview, call Kathleen Nelson at (501) 912-5882.
Other materials:
Statement by Sam Adams Alliance
Press release from Sen. Randy Brogdon
For more information on the federal lawsuit against Oklahoma’s residency requirement, go to ballotpedia.org
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October 3rd, 2007 at 12:07 pm
It is unbelievable that a state AG would make such a mockery of the democratic process. How scard does a politiian have to be that he will lose control to resort to such tactics?
Just another example of how power needs to go back to the people and away from teh politicians!
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Thank God for men like Paul Jacob to are willing to fight for what is right in the face of adversity. All to often, Paul stands as a lone voice of reason. I wish more men would be willing to stand and fight for our liberties.
October 8th, 2007 at 7:29 am
We have been circulating an initiative petition in Oklahoma to change our ballot access, considered the worst in the nation by experts such as Richard Winger from Ballot Access News. The indictment terrifies me, we are refiling our petition because we wanted to revise a few things. This is going to go a long way toward influencing people not to file initiatives due the fear that they will be brought up on charges due to political attacks. Oklahoma is a very close-minded state politically and some of its residents are leary of the initiative petition process anyway because of all the talk of out of state interests trying to influence state issues. What they fail to mention in the media is that the initiative that Paul worked to help with was started and supported by an Oklahoma resident who was inspired by initiatives he had seen done in other states. Paul is a modern hero for what he has been trying to do and for the things he has accomplished in his life. Let’s hope they do not make him a martyr. It will destroy the will of other activists if the Oklahoma 3 are successfully prosecuted. It’s a disgrace that people like our attorney general doesn’t see the long term damage he is doing to the state he is sworn to protect. This could be another nail in Lady Liberty’s coffin. I am not willing to declare her dead yet. Thank you Paul. I was nervous when I read about your indictment, but I am encouraged by your refusal to give up. Don’t let them get to you, some of us do notice what you are trying to achieve, and admire you for it.
June 13th, 2010 at 9:59 am
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