Drew Edmondson

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William Andrew "Drew" Edmondson (born October 12, 1946), is an American lawyer and politician from Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, Edmondson is the 16th and current Attorney General of Oklahoma.

Early life and career

Drew Edmondson was born in Washington, D.C., and is the son of former U.S. Congressman Ed Edmondson and June Edmondson. He is also a nephew of former Governor J. Howard Edmondson. His brother, James E. Edmondson is a Justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. As a child, he grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C. and graduated from Muskogee Central High School in 1964. In 1968, he earned a B.A. in speech education from Northeastern State University, where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity. While a college student, he married Linda Larason of Fargo, Oklahoma. The couple has two children.

From 1968 to 1972, Edmondson served in the United States Navy including a year of duty in Vietnam. From 1974 to 1976, he served one term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. He graduated from the University of Tulsa Law School in 1978. That same year, he joined the Muskogee County District Attorney's Office as an intern and became an Assistant District Attorney the following year. Following a brief stint in private practice with his brother, he was elected as Muskogee County District Attorney in 1982, and subsequently reelected unopposed in 1986 and 1990. He resigned in 1992, half way through his third term and reentered private practice.

Attorney General

Edmondson was elected as Oklahoma Attorney General in 1994. During his first term, he joined other state attorneys general in filing suit against the tobacco industry, advocated for reform of the death penalty appeals process, and created a victim assistance unit. In 1998, he became the second Oklahoma Attorney General to win reelection unopposed. He was elected to a third term in 2002, defeating state Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode. During 2002-2003, he served as President of the National Association of Attorneys General. Notable cases investigated during his tenure as Attorney General have included the August, 2003 indictment of WorldCom and its former CEO Bernard Ebbers on charges of violating state securities laws although the charges were later dropped following Ebbers's federal sentencing. Furthermore, he conducted a corruption investigation against now-former State Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher, which resulted in Fisher's impeachment, resignation, and indictment on charges including embezzlement, tax evasion, perjury, and bribery. Following the 2002 federal appeals court decision declaring the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitututional, he joined several other state attorneys general in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.

Controversies

Campaign finance issues

Edmondson has been accused of violating Oklahoma's campaign finance and ethics rules.[1] Rep. Mike Reynolds of Oklahoma City has accused Edmondson of illegally giving money from his campaign to help other candidates, citing several different incidences. Last spring, Edmondson reimbursed his campaign for $2,750 after Reynolds contended he was violating campaign rules by raising money from supporters and then transferring it to other candidates. Edmondson had denied all the allegations.[2]

He has also come under fire for receiving donations to his campaign from former Oklahoma state senator and convicted felon Gene Stipe.[3]

Prosecution of Paul Jacob and the Oklahoma 3

Edmondson came under fire for his October 2007 indictment of Paul Jacob and the Oklahoma 3. A November 19 editorial in the Wall Street Journal compared the prosecution to what one might expect from the Pakistan government. [4] Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, asked in an editorial in the November 26, 2007 issue of that magazine, "Has North Korea annexed Oklahoma?"[5]

The Muskogee Phoenix, an Oklahoma paper, editorialized against the indictment in January 2008. Referring to Drew Edmondson, they wrote:

"His persecution of the initiative leaders is a blow to the democratic rights of Oklahoma citizens. It serves only to frighten and intimidate voters from exercising their constitutional rights to participate in the initiative process."[6]

On January 22, 2009, after the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that the residency requirement in Oklahoma is unconstitutional, Edmondson announced that he was dropping his charges against Jacob, Susan Johnson and Rick Carpenter for allegedly violating the unconstitutional law, saying that the 1969 law under which he was prosecuting them was "no longer enforceable".[7]

Prosecution of poultry farmers

In November 2007, Edmondson requested a preliminary injunction to prevent farmers from using poultry manure as fertilizer on land inside watersheds of northeast Oklahoma rivers. A spokesperson for the poultry commission accused Edmondson of grandstanding: "It is unfortunate that the state’s top law enforcement official has resorted to scare tactics and exaggerations in his latest legal maneuver against poultry producers." river’s watershed. [8]

Contact Information

Office of the Attorney General of Oklahoma
P.O. Box 53036
Oklahoma City, OK 73152-3036

Phone: 800-522-8065 or 405-416-7000 ; Fax: 405-416-7001


See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Did Attorney General Violate Rules?
  2. ↑ Edmondson says campaign donations came from his own pocket, no supporters, KTEN News, Nov. 22, 2007
  3. ↑ Edmondson says he plans to keep $1000
  4. ↑ Oklahoma's Most Wanted; The latest thing in political felonies: a petition drive
  5. ↑ Has North Korea Annexed Oklahoma?
  6. ↑ Indictment wrong Muskogee Phoenix, January 20, 2008
  7. ↑ Associated Press, "State won't appeal initiative petition ruling", January 22, 2009
  8. ↑ Poultry producers say AG grandstanding with lawsuit

Portions of this article have been adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.

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