Ryan Walters at the nexus of Oklahoma lawsuits over transparency, religious freedom
OKLAHOMA CITY — In a litigious week for Oklahoma's top education official, state Superintendent Ryan Walters has both sued and been sued by advocacy groups.
The Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Walters, his administration and the state Board of Education in Oklahoma County District Court.
The lawsuit accuses the Oklahoma State Department of Education of violating open meetings laws and of improperly withholding records detailing Walters' Library Media Advisory Committee.
In an unrelated matter, Walters sued the Freedom From Religion Foundation on Monday in Muskogee federal court, complaining of the cease-and-desist letters the Wisconsin-based organization has sent to Oklahoma schools over alleged violations of church-state separation.
'Oklahoma will never be bullied by radical, out-of-state atheists who use intimidation and harassment against kids,' Walters said in a statement.
The two organizations have been involved in a court battle against Walters before. Both supplied attorneys to a pending lawsuit challenging Walters' purchase of Bibles with state funds and his mandate that schools teach from the Christian text.
Walters' lawsuit accused the Freedom from Religion Foundation of inhibiting religious freedom in Achille Public Schools when it discouraged the southeast Oklahoma district from having student-led prayer during morning announcements.
The foundation called the lawsuit frivolous and said it won't back down.
The civil suit filed against Walters on Tuesday was 'nothing more than a politically motivated attack,' Walters said in a statement through a spokesperson.
'These extremists are using the legal system to harass and obstruct progress in an effort to push their radical agenda,' Walters said.
Oklahoma Appleseed filed its case after the state agency failed to provide details of the formation, membership selection and activities of the Library Media Advisory Committee despite repeated requests, according to the lawsuit.
The Tulsa-based nonprofit requested that a judge order the Education Department to release the records and pay for the group's attorney fees.
The lawsuit also asked a judge to declare that the agency violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act and that the advisory committee broke the state's Open Meeting Act, which requires government boards to conduct their business in public view.
'This lawsuit is about government transparency and accountability,' Oklahoma Appleseed legal director Brent Rowland said in a statement. 'The public has a right to know who is making decisions affecting its public schools. Oklahomans have a right to expect that their government will follow the law regarding open records and open meetings.'
The Education Department has said it doesn't view the advisory committee as a 'public body' subject to open meeting laws.
'The Library Media Advisory Committee is a volunteer-based group responsible for reviewing books for suitability to minor students based on content,' the agency's open records office wrote to Oklahoma Voice on Dec. 17 in response to a request for documents. 'Please note that this committee is exempt from the Open Meetings Act, as it does not have decision-making authority or engage in formal deliberations. It does not meet the legal definition of a 'public body,' as it does not conduct meetings or engage in decision-making activities. Its role is solely advisory, and it is not supported by, nor entrusted with the management of, public funds or property.'
Walters formed the advisory committee in 2023 to review whether certain books are age-appropriate for schools or whether they violate state rules against sexual content.
Following the committee's recommendation, the Education Department ordered Edmond Public Schools to remove the best-selling novels 'The Kite Runner' and 'The Glass Castle' from its high school libraries. Edmond appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, who decided that local schools, not the state Education Department, have control over what books to keep on their library shelves.
Walters and his administration have refused to disclose the names of the advisory committee members but one — out-of-state social media personality Chaya Raichik, who runs an account known as Libs of TikTok.
Raichik and the Library Media Advisory Committee also are named as defendants in the Oklahoma Appleseed lawsuit.
'(The state Education Department) will not be bullied by extremist organizations trying to weaponize the courts and remains committed to transparency and compliance with all legal requirements,' Walters said.
The state agency has denied multiple requests from news media, including Oklahoma Voice, to identify the rest of the committee's members.
Email records the agency provided to Oklahoma Voice were heavily redacted to cover up individuals' names. The Education Department's open records office has so far refused to cite a state law requiring that these names be kept confidential.
Oklahoma Appleseed contended these records should be available to the public with 'narrowly tailored and legally justified redactions.'
'In this instance, the state Department of Education has formed a Library Media Advisory Committee to make decisions about students' access to books when our state Supreme Court has determined those decisions should be made by local school boards,' Rowland said. 'State officials cannot hide behind closed doors and avoid public accountability, and why would they want to?'
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The Hill
2 hours ago
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Bolivia votes in elections expected to empower the right wing for first time in decades
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Bolivia could follow rightward trend The election is being closely watched across Latin America for its potential impact on the economic fate and political stability of this long-restive, resource-rich nation. It also marks a watershed moment for the Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, whose founder, charismatic ex-President Evo Morales, rose to power as part of the 'pink tide' of leftist leaders that swept into office across Latin America during the commodities boom of the early 2000s. Now shattered by infighting, the party is fighting for its survival in Sunday's elections. The outcome will determine whether Bolivia — a nation of about 12 million people with the largest lithium reserves on Earth and crucial deposits of rare earth minerals — follows a growing trend in Latin America, where right-wing leaders like Argentina's libertarian Javier Milei, Ecuador's strongman Daniel Noboa and El Salvador's conservative populist Nayib Bukele have surged in popularity. A right-wing government in Bolivia could trigger a major geopolitical realignment for a country now allied with Venezuela's socialist-inspired government and world powers such as China, Russia and Iran. Bolivians bitter as they vote for the 'lesser evil' The somber mood of the election was clear as voting kicked off at polling stations in downtown La Paz, Bolivia's capital, and a steady stream of voters began to trickle in. Bolivians waiting to vote at three different high schools across the city expressed confused, cynical and bitter emotions, fed by an annual inflation rate of more than 16% last month (compared to 2% less than two years ago), a scarcity of fuel and absence of hope for swift improvement. Several said they were voting for 'el menos peor,' the lesser evil. The right-wing opposition candidates bill the race as a chance to chart a new destiny for Bolivia. But both front-runners, Doria Medina and Quiroga, have served in past neoliberal governments and run for president three times before — losing at least twice to Morales. 'People were waiting for a new, popular candidate, and in this, the opposition failed us,' said Ronaldo Olorio, a farmer from the coca-growing Yungas region who once identified as a fervent Morales supporter. 'My vote is one of anger, of discontent. I don't like Doria Medina or Quiroga. But I have to vote for one of the two.' Right-wing candidates vow to restore US relations Doria Medina and Quiroga have praised the Trump administration and vowed to restore ties with the United States — ruptured in 2008 when Morales expelled the American ambassador. They also have expressed interest in doing business with Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Bolivia, and called for foreign private companies to invest in the country and develop its rich natural resources. After storming to office in 2006, Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, nationalized the nation's oil and gas industry, using the lush profits to reduce poverty, expand infrastructure and improve the lives of the rural poor. After three consecutive presidential terms, as well as a contentious bid for an unprecedented fourth in 2019 that set off popular unrest and led to his ouster, Morales has been barred from this race by Bolivia's constitutional court. His ally-turned-rival, President Luis Arce, withdrew his candidacy for the MAS on account of his plummeting popularity and nominated his senior minister, Eduardo del Castillo. As the party splintered, Andrónico Rodríguez, the 36-year-old president of the Senate who hails from the same union of coca farmers as Morales, launched his bid. Ex-president Morales casts a null vote Rather than back the candidate widely considered his heir, Morales, holed up in his tropical stronghold of Chapare and evading an arrest warrant on charges related to his relationship with a 15-year-old girl, has urged his supporters to deface their ballots or leave them blank. Dozens of coca-growing union activists formed a human chain around Morales to protect him from arrest as he cast his null-and-void ballot in Chapare, in central Bolivia. A large wreath of coca leaves hung around his neck. He flashed a rare smile as he left the polling station, shaking hands with supporters who showered him in white confetti. 'I'm convinced that if there's no fraud, the null vote will win,' he told reporters after voting. Conservative candidates say austerity needed Whoever wins faces daunting challenges. Doria Medina and Quiroga have warned of the need for a painful fiscal adjustment, including the elimination of Bolivia's generous food and fuel subsidies, to save the nation from insolvency. Some analysts caution this risks sparking social unrest. 'A victory for either right-wing candidate could have grave repercussions for Bolivia's Indigenous and impoverished communities,' said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group. 'Both candidates could bolster security forces and right-wing para-state groups, paving the way for violent crackdowns on protests expected to erupt over the foreign exploitation of lithium and drastic austerity measures.' If, as is widely expected, no presidential candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, or 40% of the vote with a lead of 10 percentage points, the top two candidates will compete in a runoff on Oct. 19 for the first time since Bolivia's 1982 return to democracy. All 130 seats in Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament, are also up for grabs, along with 36 in the Senate, the upper house.
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Bolivia elections expected to empower the right for first time in decades
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The election is being closely watched across Latin America for its potential impact on the economic fate and political stability of this long-restive, resource-rich nation. It also marks a watershed moment for the Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, whose founder, charismatic ex-President Evo Morales, rose to power as part of the 'pink tide' of leftist leaders that swept into office across Latin America during the commodities boom of the early 2000s. Now shattered by infighting, the party is fighting for its survival in Sunday's elections. The outcome will determine whether Bolivia — a nation of about 12 million people with the largest lithium reserves on Earth and crucial deposits of rare earth minerals — follows a growing trend in Latin America, where right-wing leaders like Argentina's libertarian Javier Milei, Ecuador's strongman Daniel Noboa and El Salvador's conservative populist Nayib Bukele have surged in popularity. A right-wing government in Bolivia could trigger a major geopolitical realignment for a country now allied with Venezuela's socialist-inspired government and world powers such as China, Russia and Iran. The somber mood of the election was clear as voting kicked off at polling stations in downtown La Paz, Bolivia's capital, and a steady stream of voters began to trickle in. Bolivians waiting to vote at three different high schools across the city expressed confused, cynical and bitter emotions, fed by an annual inflation rate of more than 16% last month (compared to 2% less than two years ago), a scarcity of fuel and absence of hope for swift improvement. Several said they were voting for 'el menos peor,' the lesser evil. The right-wing opposition candidates bill the race as a chance to chart a new destiny for Bolivia. But both front-runners, Doria Medina and Quiroga, have served in past neoliberal governments and run for president three times before — losing at least twice to Morales. 'People were waiting for a new, popular candidate, and in this, the opposition failed us,' said Ronaldo Olorio, a farmer from the coca-growing Yungas region who once identified as a fervent Morales supporter. 'My vote is one of anger, of discontent. I don't like Doria Medina or Quiroga. But I have to vote for one of the two.' Doria Medina and Quiroga have praised the Trump administration and vowed to restore ties with the United States — ruptured in 2008 when Morales expelled the American ambassador. They also have expressed interest in doing business with Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Bolivia, and called for foreign private companies to invest in the country and develop its rich natural resources. After storming to office in 2006, Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, nationalized the nation's oil and gas industry, using the lush profits to reduce poverty, expand infrastructure and improve the lives of the rural poor. After three consecutive presidential terms, as well as a contentious bid for an unprecedented fourth in 2019 that set off popular unrest and led to his ouster, Morales has been barred from this race by Bolivia's constitutional court. His ally-turned-rival, President Luis Arce, withdrew his candidacy for the MAS on account of his plummeting popularity and nominated his senior minister, Eduardo del Castillo. As the party splintered, Andrónico Rodríguez, the 36-year-old president of the Senate who hails from the same union of coca farmers as Morales, launched his bid. Rather than back the candidate widely considered his heir, Morales, holed up in his tropical stronghold of Chapare and evading an arrest warrant on charges related to his relationship with a 15-year-old girl, has urged his supporters to deface their ballots or leave them blank. 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'Both candidates could bolster security forces and right-wing para-state groups, paving the way for violent crackdowns on protests expected to erupt over the foreign exploitation of lithium and drastic austerity measures.' If, as is widely expected, no presidential candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, or 40% of the vote with a lead of 10 percentage points, the top two candidates will compete in a runoff on Oct. 19 for the first time since Bolivia's 1982 return to democracy. All 130 seats in Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament, are also up for grabs, along with 36 in the Senate, the upper house.
Politico
3 hours ago
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States are trying to keep disasters apolitical in the new Trump era
'This decision was petty. This decision was partisan, and this decision was punishing.' Moore said. And after the Los Angeles wildfires in January, California Gov. Gavin Newsom was quick to propose that politics could play a role in Trump's approval or denial of funding for his state. 'He's done it in the past, not just here in California,' Newsom said on Pod Save America. 'The rhetoric is very familiar, it's increasingly acute, and obviously we all have reason to be concerned about it.' A review by Seattle-based public radio station KUOW in June found that FEMA denied six of the 10 major disaster requests that Democratic states filed between February and June, while denying just one of 15 requests from Republican states. Asked about the analysis, a White House official said that 'Democrat state requests were denied in the first six months because they were not disasters. In the past, states have abused the process. President Trump is right-sizing FEMA and ensuring it is serving its intended purpose to help the American people.' Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs became the rare governor to criticize the federal government's disaster management in mid-July when she called for an investigation following a destructive fire on federal land that burned down a beloved Grand Canyon lodge. Hobbs said that she does not intend her call for an investigation to be viewed as a criticism of the Trump administration. 'I don't, and I think it's really important,' Hobbs said in an interview, adding that good working relationships between officials managing tribal, federal and state land are key. 'This is not intended to undermine that collaboration, but … we need to look at what led to that decision being made.' Steve Ellis, former deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management who worked for the agency and the U.S. Forest Service under multiple administrations, said that any federal agency involved in managing a fire of the magnitude and destructiveness as the one in the Grand Canyon should be launching an investigation without a governor's need to call for it.
