A Problem In Oklahoma, Or Not?

State law requires a judge to disqualify himself if he is related to an attorney involved in a case before him, except in certain circumstances.

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In this season of brotherly love, we try to be especially tolerant, but the decision of Muskogee County District Judge Jim Edmondson, brother of Attorney General Drew Edmondson, to accept a seat of the Oklahoma Supreme Court has us scratching our head.
How on Earth is he going to escape from conflicts of interest -- much less from the constant appearance of the appearance of conflicts?
Before we go any further, we need to say that the Edmondson family, long prominent in Oklahoma public service, has given Oklahoma several distinguished public servants -- including a governor, the current Attorney General and a Congressman. It is not to suggest wrong-doing, but to point out that governing is as much about the appearance of fairness sometimes as it is about fairness itself.
The Edmondsons have glossed over such appearances of conflict blithely before, and will use that as justification this time, we assume, after Mr. Edmondson is sown in on January 14. After all, for nine years, Drew Edmondson was district attorney in Muskogee County before he became Attorney General. During that time his brother was a district judge.
"I simply didn't argue cases in front of him, but my assistants did," Drew Edmondson says -- and we're sure that is true, and will be true with his brother on the Supreme Court.
But questions about this are hardly ours alone. The Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission and the governor's office both raised ethical and practical questions about how such conflicts could disrupt work of the Supreme Court and of the Court's work in doing the public's business.
Here's the bottom line for us:
We know many very smart, qualified and thoughtful jurists, and potential jurists who would make excellent members of the Court. The potential pool is far larger than relatives of others in high public office. We consider the appointment of Mr. Edmondson to the high court, regardless that he may be a highly qualified and distinguished jurist, is unfortunate.

An Oklahoma judge who will soon become the state's newest Supreme Court justice says he foresees no conflict-of-interest issues with his brother, the attorney general.

Judge Edmondson will be sworn in on Jan. 14.
State law requires a judge to disqualify himself if he is related to an attorney involved in a case before him, except in certain circumstances.
He could remain the judge on a case if parties on both sides of the issue before him agree to let him hear it.
When a case before a judge or justice involves the offices of the attorney general, an agency attorney, district attorney, municipal attorney and public defender's office, the judge can hear the case if his relative is not appearing personally before the court.
For example, Drew Edmondson's assistants can appear before the Supreme Court and his brother won't have to disqualify himself. Any attorney on any case could ask Judge Edmondson to disqualify if the state is a party represented by the attorney general, Drew Edmondson said.
The Edmondsons have faced the situation before.
He said if he were personally sued and the case came before the Supreme Court, his brother would have to disqualify himself.
The Edmondson brothers will continue a practice to avoid possible conflicts of interest: not discuss a case or an issue that might end up before the justice, Drew Edmondson said.
The attorney general's office was involved in at least 11 cases sent to the Supreme Court last year, according to his office. The Supreme Court rarely hears oral arguments on attorney general's cases.