Latest news with #ScottFetgatter
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Controversial Oklahoma storm chasing license bill stalls, but lawmakers plan future study
Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, announced he will put his bill creating an optional license for some storm chasers on hold while he looks into the subject more after session. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — Lawmakers tabled a bill creating an optional license for 'professional' storm chasers for this session, but plan to study the topic more in the Oklahoma Legislature's interim. House Bill 2426 would allow some chasers to be classified as 'professional severe weather trackers.' For a small fee, they could act as 'emergency vehicles' and do things like subvert road closures and run red lights. Bill author Rep. Scott Fettgater, R-Okmulgee, said in a press release Thursday that he and Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, would be hosting an interim study on the subject and that 'many misunderstood the intent of the legislation.' Mann filed a similar bill in the state Senate. Critics of the bill, including many well-known storm chasers, expressed concern that it would overregulate the industry and define who is considered a 'professional' storm chaser. 'This was not to stop or disrupting any storm chaser that currently comes to Oklahoma to help residents stay aware of dangerous weather,' Fetgatter said in a statement. 'Our interim study will help continue this conversation and determine the path of the legislation going forward. I believe the proper role of government is public safety, and this is a necessary discussion.' He said he hopes people from all sides of the issue will come together after the legislative session to dig deeper into the details of the bill's concept. The bill had cleared the House and was referred to a Senate committee for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill seeking to chemically castrate child sex offenders advances to Oklahoma Senate
Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, is the author of a House bill seeking to chemically castrate child sex offenders. He is pictured standing in the House chamber of the state Capitol before the governor's State of the State Address on Feb. 3. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — Registered child sex offenders in Oklahoma would have to be 'chemically castrated' in order to be released on parole under a bill that easily cleared the House floor Monday. House Bill 2422, authored by Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, would require offenders who commit sex crimes against children age 13 and younger to be chemically castrated as a condition of supervised release. Reoffending, ending treatment or seeking reversal of the treatment, which 'use chemicals or drugs to stop sex hormone production,' would result in returning to prison for life without the possibility of parole. Opponents of castrating offenders, both physically and chemically, have argued this type of legislation is 'cruel and unusual punishment' and is a violation of the U.S. Constitution. Speaking on the House floor, Fetgatter said this was his third time trying to pass legislation aimed at strengthening the punishment of convicted child sex offenders. He said he wanted a more extreme option, but it wasn't palatable to the Oklahoma Senate. Last year, he unsuccessfully ran legislation that sought to legalize death sentences for some repeat offenders. 'I mean, if I'm just brutally honest with you, this is the third freaking year I've run this bill in some form or fashion, trying to fix these problems, to keep our kids safe,' he said. 'And for whatever reason, this legislative body in the Senate over here, they've killed the bill all three years. So I'm trying to get something with some traction going forward so that we can fix this issue and keep our kids safe. Because what happens daily all across the state is unacceptable. And if it were up to me, I'd take them down on the town square in Okmulgee, and you know what I might do with a pair of snips.' Fetgatter's legislation in 2024 also could have given child sex offenders life in prison without the possibility of parole. It died in the Senate, but Fetgatter Monday said it was'fiscally sabotaged.' While castration is technically optional under the bill, refusing the treatment would mean the offender is no longer eligible for parole and remains behind bars. Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, who voted against the measure, pointed out this made castration an 'optional requirement.' 'So to be clear, I'm not allowing anybody to go on parole. Okay?' Fetgatter said. 'Because they currently could become eligible for parole as a part of their sentencing, what I'm saying is you can't get out on parole unless you are mentally evaluated and chemically castrated. You're not even eligible to be paroled.' When questioned about the cost of the treatments, Fetgatter said the Oklahoma Department of Corrections would incur the cost but said it would be 'minimal.' While the Senate reviews the bill, Fetgatter said he'll work with colleagues in the other legislative chamber to ensure the treatments for chemical castration in the bill will be effective for both male and female anatomy. Fetgatter referenced other states that had advanced similar legislation, including Louisiana which he said passed a similar law last year. The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws, or NARSOL, opposed Louisiana's legislation and said it would not be a viable or effective and did not properly address the issue of child abuse. 'NARSOL totally opposes forced chemical amd physical castration for those who have committed sexual crime,' said Sandy Rozek, NARSOL communications director in a statement for the organization. 'The positive benefits are far below what might conceivable justify its usage, and the negative effects are medically serious. … The moral and constitutional objections are universal and compelling.' The group has previously argued that the rate of recidivism by convicted sex offenders is low. A study cited by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking found that the average adult recidivism rate is about 10% for sex offenders who underwent forms of treatment other than castration. Fetgatter referenced a 2023 incident in Okmulgee County where a convicted sex offender who was released early from prison shot six people, and then himself, as part of his reasoning for running this legislation. He called child molestation one of the 'six most heinous acts' and said he'd prefer to see this bill return to what it was last year: life without parole. 'I mean, I think we should lock them up for the rest of their life,' Fetgatter said. 'From the time they are sentenced until the day they meet their maker. That's what we should do.' With a 81-12 vote, the bill heads to the Senate for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Do Oklahoma lawmakers see our state as a real-life ‘Twisters' set? Two bills tell me they do
Storm chasers watch rotating clouds hovering over in May 2024 in Gove and Ness counties in western Kansas. (Photo by AJ Dome/ For Kansas Reflector) I'm beginning to think Oklahoma's legislators have been bamboozled by Hollywood's glamorous portrayal of storm chasers as heroic, brilliant individuals who single handedly save communities from tornadic destruction. Because before the arrival of the blockbuster 'Twisters' last year, our Legislature wasn't trying to spearhead a Tornado Grand Prix race and launch storm-seeking, adrenaline-fueled missiles traveling at ungodly speeds onto unsuspecting Oklahoma motorists. But that's exactly what lawmakers are proposing with boneheaded legislation that would empower a small group of predominantly male storm chasers to affix emergency lights to their vehicles, run red lights and stop signs and race around barricades erected by local and state officials to ensure public safety. Last month, two different bipartisan coalitions of lawmakers unanimously approved creating a new breed of licensed storm chaser — professional severe weather trackers. Those individuals would have fewer guardrails than even our highly regulated law enforcement personnel and be required to complete no specialized training to guarantee they know how to safely operate as an emergency vehicle. A Republican-led measure cleared a House committee, while a similar Democrat-sponsored bill cleared a Senate panel. The House's ridiculous plan would allow our state's broadcast TV stations – whose employees have a least five years of professional experience with a qualified media outlet – and a handful of state colleges and universities to morph into 'emergency vehicles' on any day with even a slight risk of bad weather, or when their station's meteorologist decides it's convenient to issue a severe thunderstorm watch or winter weather advisory. So even if it doesn't rain a drop, these folks would potentially have the power to circumvent roadway safety regulations and drive 130 mph. Rep. Scott Fetgatter said he came up with the idea after going on a 'ride along' to watch a storm chaser in action. Somehow the Republican emerged from the experience convinced that giving those chasers expanded powers is necessary to improve forecasts and warnings. Like Fetgatter, I have also gone out on a storm chase, but I did not emerge with the idea that chasers need expanded powers. Quite the opposite. I found myself staring down the barrel of chaos. Non-storm chasers were frantically rushing to get home to their families before hail pummeled them. TV stations and chasers hurried to get into the path of the storm to get the best shot. My job was to monitor a public radar and a local map to make sure we had an escape route in the event a tornado dropped from the sky. Licensed law enforcement and emergency managers, meanwhile, were carefully monitoring the storms from a safe distance, serving as a group of organized, trained storm spotters for their communities and the National Weather Service. I escaped without injury, but storm chasing in the Plains is an inherently dangerous activity that has resulted in at least six deaths since 2017, including three University of Oklahoma students who died when a tractor trailer rig struck them. (OU has a policy that does not endorse chasing.) Storm chasing draws thousands of thrill-seekers to Oklahoma and Kansas and the rest of Tornado Alley who dream of capturing footage of storms, hoping to sell it for a profit or to share it on social media for a viral moment. Blockbuster movies like 1996's 'Twister' and 2024's 'Twisters' have only increased the lure. Oklahoma TV meteorologists, meanwhile, rely on the footage their chasers capture to break up the monotony of hours of weather coverage and to entertain their viewers. Academics sometimes utilize chases to conduct scientific research. The National Weather Service typically relies on a trained network of spotters, and modern technology like doppler radars and other observation systems, though sometimes they receive reports from chasers. After watching countless hours of storm chasing footage on local TV over the past decade, I fail to see how passing a law that allows a few dozen people to drive like idiots will have any practical benefit for the rest of us. In fact, I fear it will make severe weather days more dangerous. It's already difficult enough to drive in ice, torrential downpours and hail. Yet lawmakers want to allow people to speed and use flashing emergency lights? Why should anybody have to spare valuable time pulling over for a storm chaser when they're trying to get home? I don't know about you, but the last time I huddled in my tornado shelter, it was pitch black outside, and it was the National Weather Service — not a storm chaser — that warned me that an early morning tornado was potentially headed toward my home. While a tornado never touched down, I remember hearing the winds howl as the storm passed over. If a tornado had destroyed my home, the last thing I'd want to see is a television camera capturing one of the worst moments of my life for entertainment purposes. I would certainly blame lawmakers for the indignity because their law permits TV crews to circumvent barricades erected by true emergency personnel who are legitimately trying to save lives. I'm not taking away from the professionalism of some storm chasers, but we need to admit that there's an element of entertainment closely wrapped in this. If you don't believe me, perhaps lawmakers should incorporate these folks as part of our state's emergency management division and have a central entity dispatch them each to a different location. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have many takers. Because ours is a state that likes being entertained by weather — so long as it isn't in our neighborhood and leading to Hollywood-esque policies that endanger our roadways. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
