W. A. D. Edmondson taking a break in between cases. Is his golf club taller than he is?

Hearing that Edmondson and Turpen were again using a once-respected public affairs show to dissemble on the Oklahoma public reminds us of the fat (no pun intended) payout Turpen received as the result of his alliance with the attorney general.

Oklahoma will eventually receive $2.6 billion dollars in the national tobacco settlement. Edmondson appointed several law firms to walk off with the lottery earnings while the firms pretended to litigate on behalf of the citizens of the state. The hard working lawyers, who according to most reports spent no time in the courtroom, got $268 million in fees for their “strategic contribution.”

Six national law firms, including movie-lawyer-turned-criminal defendant Richard Scruggs, shared the winnings with among others, Riggs Abney of Tulsa. The law firms attempted to charge the taxpayers a rate of $6000 per hour, but gave the citizens a break since they are such good guys.

Scruggs has been busy these days, but Edmondson was able to bring Scruggs’ buddy Ron Motley into the poultry suit, which we’re sure he’s doing for the children and not in hopes of another obscene profit safari.

Related:

FreePaulJacob.com: Edmondson helps block term limits on himself

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Mike Turpen, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 5/13/2008 08:51:00 AM |

Courtesy of one of our "Capitol reporters"

Drew Edmondson and his entourage filed into the House gallery on Thursday of last week to personally hear the debate and watch the vote on the state-wide elected official term limits bill (SB 1987). Edmondson was seen hastily walking out of the chamber in disgust of passage of the measure. Reportedly, Edmondson spent the rest of the morning arguing with fellow Democrat and lobbyist Pat Hall about this legislation passing the Senate and going to a vote of the people.

Edmondson is targeting Sen. Nancy Riley and Sen. Susan Paddack to change their orginal YES vote for term limits to a NO vote in the coming weeks. Seems Drew doesn't want to leave his office anytime soon...

From freepauljacob.com:

Yes, it’s true. Drew Edmondson, the four-time incumbent attorney general of Oklahoma, notorious for abusing the power of his office to prosecute honest supporters of Oklahomans’ citizen initiative rights, has publicly stated his opposition to a bill that would limit his tenure as well as that of other state officials. Read more...

GetRightOK.com: The fight of the session: Term Limits v. Entrenched Incumbent

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Paul Jacob TABOR, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 4/23/2008 11:25:00 AM |

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, and private attorneys have recently asked the court for an injunction against the poultry companies as part of a 2005 lawsuit, to stop the spreading of poultry litter near the Illinois River Watershed area before the "Spring Rains," arrive.

Spring, however, arrived March 21, this year, and we've already had a lot of that Spring rain. Meanwhile, Attorney General Edmondson has asked the court for a four-month extension to produce expert witness reports. Spring 2008 will be a non-issue by then, of course. The court has granted a 45 day extension.

In three years of negotiations, these attorneys have not had time to gather the needed expert witness reports? Perhaps they meant Spring 2009?

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 3/28/2008 07:39:00 AM |

So do "pigs, sheep, wild birds, deer, leaky septic tanks and city sewer plants." This seems to be the argument from the poulty industry in response to Drew Edmondson's arguments for stopping the disposal of chicken litter near the Illinois watershed, according to a report in the Arkansas Democrat and Gazette.

Edmondson, according to the report wasn't impressed, and wondered if this all they've got:

That’s not a denial of the role they play. They’ve been saying there are other contributors. We’ve said ‘Yes, that’s true, but you are the biggest contributor.’ What separates the impact of poultry litter from cattle manure is timing. [Explaining that cow manurem for example is deposited by the cows year round, whereas poultry farmers saturate the ground with it in the Spring, at the beginning of the growing season, just as the weather is warming up and people start going to the river for recreational purposes].

People don’t canoe in those other rivers. We are willing to go where the evidence takes us. The evidence points at the poultry industry, not the cattle industry. We could be more active in fencing cattle away from streams and having setbacks from rivers, but if we want to get into the pollution of the Illinois River, the answer is in poultry.

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 3/12/2008 07:57:00 AM |

Previously, OKPNS reported that the Poultry Industry called into question the use of private law firms on a contigency-fee basis for the state of Oklahoma in Attorney General Drew Edmondson's case against several Arkansas poultry companies, which may not be in the best interest of Oklahomans

A motion was filed last year by Tyson foods, saying, such a practice "violates both the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions:"

The Contingency Fee Contract transgresses due process under both the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions because it inextricably commingles use of the State’s power by private attorneys with an executory obligation on the part of the State to provide these attorneys with massive private profit that varies depending on the results of the litigation.

[...]

Moreover, because the Contract commits a large percentage of any damages the State may recover to the State Contingency Lawyers in the absence of a specific legislative authorization, the Attorney General has violated the separation-of-powers provisions of the Oklahoma Constitution...

Also, we reported that there is a trend nationwide and in Oklahoma, for private law firms to financially support the campaigns of only Democrat Attorney's General.

Now, Legal Newsline has discovered that the major law firm on Drew Edmondson's lawsuit against the poultry industry, Riggs Abney, has been one of Drew Edmondson's "most faithful [campaign] contributors:"

The Tulsa firm's first public connection with Edmondson, who has been Oklahoma's AG since 1992, appeared in the late 1990s. Riggs Abney was one of several Oklahoma firms that worked with Edmondson on the state's tobacco settlement, which landed Oklahoma's private attorneys $250 million from the final settlement - and Riggs Abney $30 million.

In the years since then, AG Edmondson and the Oklahoma Democratic Party have counted Riggs Abney as amongst their most faithful contributors. In the years 2001-2004, one researcher discovered, 15 attorneys at Riggs Abney donated almost $50,000 to Edmondson's re-election campaigns.

Partners M. David Riggs and Mike Turpen were Edmondson's largest individual donors within the firm, giving $8,600 and $8,100 respectively.

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 3/11/2008 07:26:00 AM |

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is currently suing the Poultry Industry, mostly in Arkansas, on the basis that too much fecal bacteria from the chicken farms is leeching into the Illinois watershed. For more information on OKPNS about this lawsuit click here. We'd like to know what you think.

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Polls, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 3/10/2008 03:00:00 PM |

The lawyers are still arguing over just exactly who is the most qualified to determine how much chicken litter is officially "safe" for Oklahoma's water, and who's scientific findings constitute "proof" or "evidence."

It makes me very sad that the attorneys on both sides of this issue are the ones who will benefit financially from this ongoing lawsuit, at the expense of the farmers. And yet, something needs to be done.

I was talking to my Mother about this whole mess with Drew Edmondson and the poultry companies, and she recalled growing up on ranch in what is now North Tulsa, along Flat Rock Creek. They had a few chickens...enough for the family, and to sell a few eggs now and then. Mom said even several decades ago, it was a nasty, dirty little creek. But even so, Grandpa was so careful not to get chicken litter in that water, or use it on the land near the water, because all of the old farmers knew it was toxic for the livestock and wild animals that drank the water, and for the fish, and for any people who swam there.

And now, they're discussing how much of this is going into the water in terms of TONS?!?! Who cares if it's 175 tons or 350 tons a year...we're talking about TONS of chicken "litter" going into the water where fish swim, where wild animals drink, where people swim...it's even affecting the well water people drink in some places.

TONS. How can we think that's ok? Amazing. And if they don't think it's harmful, then why don't Arkansas poultry companies put it in their own water, and leave Oklahoma's alone? (See the New York Times: THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Candidate's Record; Arkansas Water Pollution Looms as a Campaign Issue)

Labels: Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 3/05/2008 08:11:00 AM |

We reported earlier this week that Rick Stubblefield, Adair County representative of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission (OSRC) wrote a letter to the Tahlequah Daily Press, in which he explains that existing manure transfer programs are actually creating a shortage of fertilizer in the Oklahoma watershed area, rather than too much.

The Muskogee Phoenix is reporting today that Stubblefield, along with Steven Randall, also of the OSRC, also filed that information in a brief in federal court in support of the poultry industry.

The OSRC is denouncing this action, according to the report:

Oklahoma Scenic Rivers commissioners Gerald Hilsher and Ed Brocksmith said the motion, brief and supporting documents filed by Stubblefield and Randall are not supported by the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission.

[...]

Brocksmith said there has been no vote by the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission nor any discussion that would lend any official support or credence to Stubblefield and Randall’s request or assertions.

This discussion about the potential effect on manure transfer programs, however is happening on a national level. Rod Smith of Feedstuffs reports that a number of amicus curiae reports are being filed, and that,

Even cattle producers are lining up to defend the chicken and turkey producers in the action...Sen. Mark Pryor (D., Ark.) said the case has implications well beyond the watershed, Arkansas and Oklahoma and the poultry industry. He explained that an outcome supporting Edmondson would set a precedent that would establish litter and manure from livestock and poultry as hazardous waste and would expose livestock and poultry producers to significant cleanup costs and other penalties.

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 2/29/2008 07:43:00 AM |

Rick Stubblefield, Adair County representative of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission wrote a letter to the Tahlequah Daily Press, in which he explains that the claims made by the private attorney's Oklahoma Drew Edmondson has hired to represent Oklahoma against the Poultry industry, are "a joke," to the farmers in the Illinois Watershed area:

...[T}here is just not enough poultry litter being produced to satisfy demand. Despite the exaggerated claims of Drew Edmondson, a chicken house only produces about 120 tons of poultry litter a year – and state agency records and assessor records show there are about 1,650 poultry houses in the Illinois River watershed. That gives the farming community about 200,000 total tons of poultry litter to use every year. Farmers outside the watershed use manure transfer program tax breaks to pay more than farmers in the watershed can afford to pay. The end result? There is not much left to use as fertilizer on fields in the Illinois River watershed.

He credits the Oklahoma Poultry Litter Transfer Program, for the shortage in the watershed area, explaining:

Farmers outside the watershed use manure transfer program tax breaks to pay more than farmers in the watershed can afford to pay. The end result? There is not much left to use as fertilizer on fields in the Illinois River watershed.... (more)

To learn more about Oklahoma's Poultry Litter Transfer Program, see:

• Oklahoma’s Poultry Litter Transfer Program - Slideshow by OSU's Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service
• Poultry Litter Manure Transfer Incentives Through The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
• Incentives to Buy and Sell Poultry Litter
• Natural Resources Conservation Service: Oklahoma Bulletin No. OK-190-7-1
• Div. of Agriculture Sciences and Natural Recources: New Incentives to Buy and Sell Poultry Litter by Donald Stotts

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 2/27/2008 10:13:00 AM |

The battle between Drew Edmondson and the Poultry Industry has resulted in collateral damage, reports the Oklahoman. One poultry company has closed its Oklahoma operations, and waived its right to be present at the ongoing hearings.

Willow Brooke Farms, a turkey company based in Springfield, MO, has cited the cost of litigation as their reason for dropping out. They are still a defendent in the lawsuit, however.

The company only had one turkey farmer in Oklahoma, Larry Emerson, of Tahlequah, who told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, "He tried to prevent runoff and cooperated with authorities who tested his groundwater," and said:

I thought at least we would always be able to retire if we did a good job for whoever we were with. I never dreamed that the state of Oklahoma would take away our income.

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 2/24/2008 09:04:00 PM |

Yesterday, Oklahoma Attorney Drew Edmondson laid out his case against the area Poultry Industry, (See Case No. 05-CV-329-GKF/SAJ)specifically: Tyson Foods Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., Tyson Chicken Inc., Cobb-Vantress Inc., Aviagen Inc., Cal-Maine Foods Inc., Cargill Inc., Cargill Turkey Production L.L.C., George's Inc., George's Farms Inc., Peterson Farms Inc., Simmons Foods Inc., Cal-Maine Farms Inc. and Willow Brook Foods Inc. saying, according the A.P., that:

Unless the court grants the request by the spring, the fecal bacteria found in the waste could pose a health threat to hundreds of people who visit the river valley each year...Our evidence will show that these persistent and pervasive violations of state and federal law have infested the rivers and springs and wells of the Illinois River Watershed with biological pathogens that have created an imminent and substantial threat to human health

.

According to the same A.P. report, "He also said the amount of phosphorous dumped on the ground in the watershed each year is equivalent to the waste of 10.7 million people."

Tyson Foods' attorney Patrick Ryan responded by saying the injunction seeks to disrupt an industry that has operated successfully in the watershed for decades. He also accused the state of creating the science to suit its case:

There is nothing more going on in this watershed than the rest of the state.

Attorneys for the state admitted they had not taken action against the Oklahoma cattle industry, even though the primary source of fecal contamination in the rest of the state is cattle.

Ryan also saidalso said:

The state has not been able to identify a single person who has become ill because of contact with water in the watershed.

NewsOK.com reports Edmondson will be calling witnesses over the next three days, then the court will hear from the poultry industry.

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 2/20/2008 09:39:00 AM |

For over six years, Oklahoma Attorney Drew Edmondson has obsessively and relentlessly pursued Arkansas Chicken companies and farmers, alledging that the chicken "litter" being used in the area is sufficient to classify as solid waste, and is in sufficient volumes to poison streams and well-water used by Oklahoma Humans.

Edmondson's methods of gathering evidence for his lawsuit have been questionable, at times, extending to alledgedly trespassing on private property, having using fake FBI agents to intimidate poultry farmers, and trying to intimidate those who have reported on the lawsuit in a way that was unflattering to the Attorney General's Office. OKPNS has covered the story extensively - view the archive here.

The Arkansas Poulty industry alledges that it is merely being targeted by greedy Oklahoma attornies because of the amount of money it makes.

Beginning today, both will have their day in court, and perhaps in the near future, we will once and for all determine how much Arkansas chicken feces is safe for Oklahomans to drink and bathe in, and whether or not the end justifies the means, or the means justifies the end when it comes to governmental regulation.

Also see: The Morning News: Poultry Growers, Companies Say Lawsuit Could Hurt Livelihoods

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 2/19/2008 08:12:00 AM |

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Mike Turpin, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 1/14/2008 11:53:00 AM |

Ed Kelley, editor of The Oklahoman, comments on the recent decision by Senator Inhofe to "interject" himself into the standoff between the Attorney General and the poultry industry.

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit, Sen. Inhofe

Posted at 12/19/2007 03:46:00 PM |

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit, Sen. Inhofe

Posted at 12/17/2007 10:09:00 AM |

From the "Fair and Biased" blog:

mo·ral·i·ty (m -r l -t , mô-) NOUN: pl. mo·ral·i·ties 1. The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct. 2. A system of ideas of right and wrong conduct: religious morality; Christian morality.3. Virtuous conduct. 4. A rule or lesson in moral conduct.

“It was my obligation to defend this (HB 1804).” “I only have to argue the legality of it.” “I’ve very grateful I do not have to argue the morality of it.” Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson in 12/4 edition of The Oklahoman

Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma AG, is between a rock and hard place. He says he has to legally argue for a law that he believes is immoral. Edmondson is an attorney, so it’s difficult to believe he hasn’t faced these dilemmas before. It's a good thing Drew doesn’t have to argue the morality of HB #1804- or any law for that matter.

Edmondson’s morals and ethics have been questionable for years. Consider the following examples:

In November 1998, Edmondson and seven other state A.G.s announced they had negotiated a historic settlement with big tobacco. The settlement imposed sweeping bans on tobacco advertising, stopped the tobacco companies from targeting children, allocated funding for tobacco education efforts and pays the states about $206 billion in recovery funds. But Edmondson benefited from the Tobacco Settlement by reaping major campaign contributions from the lawyers who got big fees in the tobacco suit.

In 2000, Edmondson involved the state of Oklahoma in a U. S. Supreme Court case by supporting a New Jersey court decision ordering the Scouts to reinstate a homosexual scout leader. Read more...

Related:

LegalNewsline.com: Activist expects 'ham sandwich' justice from Okla. AG

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Immigration Reform, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 12/05/2007 01:49:00 PM |

Oklahoma Attorney General W. A. Drew Edmondson wrote a response letter to a recent Wall Street Journal “editorial that was critical of his political indictment of Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter. Any observer of politics, or ordinary citizen for that matter, should be appalled at the sheer arrogance that is on display in Edmondson's letter. For example. Edmondson writes in his first sentence: "I was surprised at the vigor with which you condemned the state for our prosecution of three individuals who are charged with violating Oklahoma campaign laws."

No Mr. Edmondson, WSJ is condemning you because you are trampling over the first amendment and abusing your power as attorney general to simply harass and intimidate these people. We all know how the game is played in these types of frivolous lawsuits brought by overzealous politicians. The real aim is not to win the case, but to drain the defendants' of time, money - and worst of all their peace of mind! Edmondson again attempts to assault the character of the defendants:

"The signature gatherers Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson brought into Oklahoma had no intent to live here. They came only to do a job and then move on. They were not residents."

From the Sam Adams Alliance website:

"Paul outlines in his statement that, as an advisor to the petition drive, he worked with Oklahomans in Action (the backers of the TABOR initiative) to obtain the best petition services, and then to monitor the drive's progress. Oklahomans in Action contracted with National Voter Outreach (NVO), a petition company that had conducted many successful petition drives in the past. The contract specifically stated that NVO be familiar with Oklahoma's petitioning laws." Read more...

Edmondson continues:

"It’s perfectly legal for out-of-state interests to finance a petition drive. They just have to follow Oklahoma law which includes using only qualified electors to gather signatures. The main point your editorial writers missed is that, through their allegedly illegal actions, Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson silenced the voices of the Oklahoma voters who signed the initiative petition."

From Sam Adams Alliance:

"Petitioners did not have an easy job of conducting the drive, however—in fact, they faced an aggressive campaign of blockers who were paid by the opposition to harass petitioners and prevent voters from signing the petitions. Needless to say, as a result many petitioners left Oklahoma, and not enough circulators could be found to successfully continue the drive. However, Paul was then informed that under Oklahoma's residency statute, people could move to Oklahoma, immediately declare residency, and thus qualify to begin circulating a petition. NVO received advice and approval directly from officials in the Secretary of State's office, confirming this information. This information was also consistent with the Oklahoma Supreme Court's ruling in a previous case challenging a petition drive on the basis of residency, as well as with Paul's experience monitoring ballot drives in Oklahoma in the 1990s." Read more...

Instead of playing politics and running for governor, maybe W. A. D. should be boning up on his law: "Oklahoma law requires signature gatherers to be residents, and a grand jury that reviewed the evidence found Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson “knowingly, willfully, fraudulently and feloniously” violated that law." Ballot Access News:

"The Oklahoma indictment against Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter, for allegedly conspiring to bring out-of-staters to circulate an initiative petition in Oklahoma in 2006, has been dismissed. However, it is likely to be re-filed. The original indictment apparently suffered from a legal flaw relating to the composition of multi-county grand juries. If there is to be a new indictment, it will be brought directly by Oklahoma’s Democratic Attorney General, Drew Edmondson." Read more...

And the cherry on top of the ice cream!

"If you don’t like this particular statute, go to the legislature and change it."

W.A. Drew Edmondson

Related:

NW Republican: Paul Jacob persecutor feeling the heat

LegalNewsline.com: Edmondson wants activists jailed over ballot signatures

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Paul Jacob TABOR, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 12/03/2007 08:33:00 PM |

Labels: Drew Edmondson, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 11/21/2007 10:42:00 AM |

In the post below, we excerpted and linked to an Arkansas newspaper article that detailed Drew Edmondson using fake FBI agents to serve a summons to a local chicken farmer. Later, we received this email from the editor of the paper. We're taking bets that someone from the AG's office contacted this editor and told her we were using their "copyrighted" material. Iran's president Ahmadinejab would be proud Drew! From: jlindsey@arkansasonline.com Sent: Fri 11/16/07 7:46 PM To: okpns_editor@hotmail.com Cc: jlindsey@arkansasonline.com The story on your site at the following URL is copyrighted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock Arkansas and cannot be used online for any reason. The maximum linkable text to our copyrighted text is one sentence and one headline. Please remove our copyrighted material from your site and contact me at jlindsey@arkansasonline.com or 501-399-3664 for details. If I do not receive an email or call by Wednesday and if this content is not removed, it will be assumed you are refusing to honor our copyright, We will proceed to defend our copyrighted material by other legal means. Please contact me as soon as possible. http://www.okpns.com/2007/11/ag-edmondson-using-henchman-to.html Thank you, Jeff Lindsey News Editor ArkansasOnline 501-399-3664 jlindsey@arkansasonline.com Related: WSJ Online: Oklahoma's Most Wanted

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Mike Turpin, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 11/19/2007 09:15:00 AM |

Attorney General Drew Edmondson - who has come to typify arrogance of power and tin ear political instincts - had the sheer audacity to add his name recently to a group that is criticizing legislators who refused to accept Centennial Qurans a few weeks ago. Following in the fine tradition of oppressive Islamic governments around the world, Mr. Edmondon routinely intimidates chicken farmers trying to provide for their families, jails ordinary citizens attempting to petition their government, and disregards the law to achieve his objectives. Way to go Drew!

Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Paul Jacob TABOR, Poultry Lawsuit

Posted at 11/19/2007 08:39:00 AM |