AR-News: More on OK Cockfighting Victory

[Political Animal]

We have two months left in the legislative session to
hold off any attempts to weaken the ban.  But the
courts have rejected the cockfighters legal challenges
to the law.
---


Oklahoma's Supreme Court says anti-cockfighting law is
valid 

By RON JENKINS
The Associated Press
3/30/04 5:37 PM 

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma Supreme Court, in a
7-0 opinion, upheld the constitutionality Tuesday of a
cockfighting ban approved by voters two years ago. 

The ruling overturns a series of district court orders
that had blocked enforcement of the ban in several
counties, mostly in eastern Oklahoma. 

Cockfighting remains legal in just two states:
Louisiana and New Mexico. 

Oklahoma's high court rejected claims of cockfighting
proponents that the law was unconstitutionally vague
and deprived people involved in the cockfighting
industry of their property without compensation. 

"The act is a proper exercise of the police power,
enacted by the electorate through the initiative
process by virtue of its reserved legislative power,"
the opinion said. It was signed by Chief Justice
Joseph M. Watt and six other justices. 

A spokeswoman for Tulsa attorney Larry Oliver, who
represented cockfighting interests, said Oliver would
have no comment until he could read the opinion. 

Cynthia Armstrong, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma
Coalition Against Cockfighting, was pleased. 

"The cockfighting pits should be shut down immediately
and this cruel and barbaric practice of staging fights
between animals should end once and for all in our
state," she said. 

Attorney General Drew Edmondson had asked the court to
rule on the constitutionality of the law after
district court injunctions and restraining orders had
suspended enforcement of the ban in about 25 counties.


"It is the attorney general's job to defend Oklahoma
law when there exists a justifiable defense,"
Edmondson said. "We felt all along this statute was
constitutional and I'm proud to defend the people's
constitutional right to engage in the initiative
process. The ruling is a victory for the voters of
Oklahoma." 

Two justices, Marion Opala and James Edmondson,
brother of the attorney general, did not take part in
the opinion. 

The cockfighting ban was approved by 125,000 votes in
November, 2002. 

At the time, Oklahoma was one of only three states in
the nation that permitted the bloodsport in which
roosters are equipped with knifes or gaffs and usually
fight to the death. 

Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane
Society of the United States, praised the ruling. He
said the "clock is ticking" against laws that allow
cockfighting in New Mexico and Louisiana. 

Edmondson had argued the core issue in the case was
the people's right to engage in the initiative
petition process. 

The state high court sided with the attorney general's
arguments that the state had a legitimate interest in
banning cockfighting to prevent cruelty to animals. 

The court held that "the interests of society and the
community at large prevail" over claims by
cockfighters that they are losing property without
just compensation. 

It said law ban represents a reasonable and proper
exercise of the police power of the electorate to
"promote public morals" by banning an activity that is
injurious to the public. 

"At a minimum, the act serves the significant and
legitimate public purpose of preventing cruelty to
animals and prohibiting human involvement in bird
fighting, obviously out of compassion for avian
creatures." 

The ruling means that participants in cockfights and
raising birds for fighting will be subject to felony
charges that carry penalties of up to 10 years in jail
and a $25,000 fine. 

It is a misdemeanor to be a spectator at a cockfight
under the act. 

Charlie Price, spokesman for Edmondson, said
enforcement of the law will be up to local
authorities. 

The opinion was a victory for anti-cockfighting forces
that began a campaign to rid the state of the sport by
filing papers with the secretary of state in 1999. 

The petition drive to get the issue on the ballot was
started by Janet Halliburton, former general counsel
with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. 


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