Oklahoma Cockfighting Ban Still Tied Up In Courts

By Brian Carnell

Tuesday, December 30, 2003

In November 2002, Oklahoma voters approved a ban on cockfighting in that state -- but as of this writing, the ban remains unenforced and still the subject of a court challenge.

After the vote, cockfighting supporters went to court and obtained injunctions to prevent the enforcement of the new law in 27 of 77 Oklahoma counties. They challenged the law on a number of grounds, including that the language of the new law was unconstitutionally vague and that the ban on cockfighting would represent a taking which would require compensation to cockfighters.

In September, the Oklahoma Supreme Court turned rejected motions by the Oklahoma Gamefowl Breeders Association seeking to have the Supreme Court justices recuse themselves from hearing a request by state officials to consolidate a number of separate lawsuits challenging the ban and determine its constitutionality one way or the other.

Cockfighting supporters in Oklahoma believe the state supreme court is biased against them, going back to their earlier rejection of a challenge to the signatures obtained by anti-cockfighting groups to put the initiative on the 2002 ballot.

Larry Oliver, an attorney representing the Oklahoma Gamefowl Breeders Association, told Tulsa World,

In view of past rulings, we're not the least bit surprised, but we are tremendously disappointed. The cockfighters have authorized me, at the proper time, to proceed to the United States Supreme Court.

That -- like the future of cockfighting -- seems like a long shot possibility at best.

Sources:

Cockfighting: State's justices won't exit the case. Marie Price, Tulsa World, September 9, 2003.

Oklahoma cockfighting ban faces legal challenges. American Veterinary Medical Association, April 15, 2003.