Free Republic

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma would stop issuing marriage licenses under legislation passed Tuesday afternoon by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. House Bill 1125, by Rep. Todd Russ, R-Cordell, would instead require those officiating marriage ceremonies to file after-the-fact “certificates of marriage” with court clerks’ offices. Alternatively, couples could file affidavits of common law marriage. Russ said his bill is intended to “protect” county court clerks who do not want to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. “This takes them out of the trap,” he said.

Potentially millions of current and former illegal immigrants now have the opportunity to fly their children to the U.S. with taxpayer dollars. Once they arrive, they will be eligible for benefits including a free education, healthcare and food stamps. The State Department and Department of Homeland Security will administer the program, ... Some of the benefits they will receive are a free education, medical care, living expenses and food stamps. ... The U.S. has already sent staff to the region and began accepting applications in December. If applicants don’t qualify for refugee status, they can be considered for parole status

Our View: We encourage our readers to actively redefine “nude” and consider the subtle examples of racism they encounter every day. Imagine this: you are a young African American woman who has run to the local department store to grab a “nude” colored bra to wear under a sheer outfit, say a game-day dress or a work interview blouse. But when you get to the store there is no “nude” lingerie, at least not for you. Bras in slightly different shades of pale peach abound, but there are few to no options for darker-skinned women and they aren’t advertised as...

In 1997, in the City of Boerne v. Flores decision, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) did not apply to the states. Since 1993, 20 states have enacted state RFRAs. These laws are intended to echo the federal RFRA, but are not necessarily identical to the federal law. Indiana is the most recent state to enact a RFRA, doing so this year. Sixteen states have introduced legislation this year regarding the creation of, or alteration to, a state religious freedom law. Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas currently have a RFRA, but have introduced...

This afternoon, Fact Check.org produced a fact-check that ostensibly criticizes U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) for his contention that there has never been an instance of ground water contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing. Of course, this piece isn’t really about Inhofe at all; but before we get into that, we can’t help but wonder why they are fact-checking Inhofe and not former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson … or Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz … or Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell — all of whom have said exactly the same thing. Rather than a “fact-check,” it reads more like an advocacy...

AMMAN, JORDAN – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and a delegation of senior lawmakers met with His Majesty King Abdullah II on Sunday during a visit to Jordan where talks focused on Iranian-backed violence in the region and the growing terrorist threat. King Abdullah hosted the delegation for a luncheon at Beit al-Urdun Palace. Lawmakers also met with U.S. Ambassador Alice Wells, Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s Foreign Minister, as well as senior embassy officials. Discussions focused on two major trends in the region: the violence caused by Iran’s allies and proxies, and the spreading of the terrorist threat. There was also...

After investigating a racist chant sung by Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers on their way to an SAE Founders Day event, University of Oklahoma officials have concluded that members of the fraternity learned the words at a leadership event hosted by SAE’s national headquarters four years earlier. The university found that the chant migrated to Oklahoma and had become “part of the institutionalized culture of the chapter” and its pledging process, implying that it was not a song belonging to a small number of people and instead was part of the fraternity’s recent traditions.

One person was killed Wednesday and several other people were injured, at least one of them critically, when a series of “extremely dangerous” tornadoes ripped through the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area, emergency officials said.

Levi Pettit, a former OU student and member of SAE fraternity, will address the media.A former University of Oklahoma student who led a racist chant apologized personally to the leader of Oklahoma's Legislative Black Caucus and plans to meet with more civic leaders before speaking publicly about the incident for the first time, a state senator said Wednesday. Sen. Anastasia Pittman, an Oklahoma City Democrat, said the student, Levi Pettit, called her personally to apologize after he and another fraternity member were caught on video earlier this month leading a chant that referenced lynching and used a racial slur to...

Levi Pettit, the Highland Park High School graduate seen in the now-infamous University of Oklahoma SAE video chanting racial epithets, will make his first public remarks Wednesday at an event hosted by an Oklahoma state senator. Sen. Anastasia Pittman, chair of the Oklahoma Black Caucus and a University of Oklahoma graduate, says Pettit will join her tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, where he will apologize for singing that racist chant earlier this month. And before that, she says, he will spend an hour behind closed doors talking with pastors and politicians and African-American...

An Edmond father’s response to a student who was planning a mass casualty event is going viral. Charles Martin’s son, Michael, is a freshman at Edmond North High School. Martin reacted a little out of the box to the news of the mass casualty plot uncovered at his son’s school. “The first thought just goes back to what it’s like being a teenager. It’s a brutal, brutal time,” said Martin. On Friday, Edmond police said they had uncovered a plan of a potential mass killing at the high school. Several students had come forward with text messages from the suspect...

In a scathing resignation letter about the issue, Oklahoma City math teacher Juli Sylvan blasted the controversial Common Core standards and exposed numerous serious problems with the Obama-backed scheme — including the fact that it is being quietly implemented in apparent defiance of state law. Among the most troubling elements, according to Sylvan — a veteran teacher with more than two decades in the classroom — is the data-mining of children, which she said she is not willing to facilitate. However, the problems with the administration-promoted national school standards are much more wide ranging. From using ineffective teaching methods and...

Turn on the news and you expect to see people of different races and politics denouncing each other. That's why what happened last week on "The Kelly File," Megyn Kelly's Fox News program, was so remarkable. Following the expulsion of Parker Rice and Levi Pettit, two Sigma Alpha Epsilon members at the University of Oklahoma, upon the video release of a racist sing-a-long they led, Isaac Hill, the president of the university's Black Student Association, told Kelly the students should be forgiven. Kelly, who is normally in complete control, was stunned and nearly speechless. It was not what she...

Members of a fraternity at the University of Oklahoma were recently filmed chanting that they’d rather see a black student lynched than as a member of their clan. The now viral video of dapper, privileged white men shouting, “There will never be a nigger at SAE, you can hang him from a tree” reminds us of our greatest national shame. The chant has been roundly condemned as abhorrent. But after university president David Boren announced the expulsion of two students leading the chants, prominent legal scholars from the right and left have come to their defense. The university is a...

The conservative Club For Growth released its annual scorecard for 2013 on Monday, bestowing two Republican U.S. senators — Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — and four GOP congressmen with 100 percent ratings for their voting records “based on issues relating to limited government and economic growth.”The four congressmen with perfect ratings for 2013 are Republican Reps. Matt Salmon, Trent Franks and David Schweikert of Arizona and Tom McClintock of California. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan got a 99 percent rating in 2013 “but because of rounding has a 100 percent LifeScore,” the group said.“2013 saw...

The fraternity chapter banished from the University of Oklahoma and evicted from its house after members were caught on video singing a racist song is seeking “some other resolution to this matter” and, failing that, may take the university to court, the group’s lawyer said Friday.

The local chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is planning to pursue legal action against the University of Oklahoma, and possibly OU President David Boren. The group has hired high-profile attorney Stephen Jones to represent them. Jones told NewsChannel 4 the group is outraged over President Boren shutting down the fraternity house and branding all SAE members as racists and bigots. Jones says the two students who were expelled because of the incident have apologized sincerely for their remarks, and now the incident is being exploited. He said they lacked judgment in a social setting, but they should not be tarred...

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon national headquarters, or national fraternity, has not retained legal representation, nor do we intend to pursue any action against the University of Oklahoma. Based on reports that have been brought to our attention, certain local alumni may have retained legal representation, but we cannot validate those reports nor are we involved in that matter. There has been no communication from the alumni advisory group to the national headquarters since the chapter closing. We support and respect the university administrators’ decision to revoke recognition of the group. Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s leadership continues to proceed with bringing all...

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter disbanded after a video showed members singing a racist chant has reportedly hired an attorney who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. High-profile lawyer Stephen Jones told NBC station KFOR the group he's representing is unhappy that the their chapter was closed by University of Oklahoma President President David Boren and plans legal action against the college.

Some University of Oklahoma students in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity were videorecorded singing (as best I and others can tell), There will never be a nigger at SAE There will never be a nigger at SAE You can hang him from a tree But he’ll never sign with me There will never be a nigger at SAE University of Oklahoma president David Boren said, “If I’m allowed to, these students will face suspension or expulsion.” [UPDATE: The president has indeed expelled two of the students.] But he is not, I think, allowed to do that.