By Juan Miret
Hispano de Tulsa

Tulsa, OK – The battle against 1804 is not over yet. After a marathon-like session the judge for the cause, Jefferson Sellers, granted a 3-week recess in which plaintiffs and defendants will have enough time to present their final arguments.

The date for the next hearing will be announced after the transcripts for the hearings of April 3 and 11 are in, nevertheless, it is estimated that the groups in conflict will cross paths during the first week of May.

Yet again, the room in the municipal court was full to capacity; the pro-immigrant community was the majority: Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans and other citizens were present to reject the severity of a law that has devastated Oklahoma.

Once more, the obviously uncomfortable radical group had to settle for 4 seats; they allowed their fury to burst out toward the end of the hearing.

Juan Miret
Hispano de Tulsa

Tulsa, OK- The 32 chairs at the courthouse were full. The Hispanic community came out in massive numbers and only 4 seats were left for the radicals.

Minutes before the hearing began, the stands at the District Court were decorated with colorful t-shirts which had printed on them a map of the United States made up of flags from all over the world accompanied by the statement “A Nation of Immigrants.”

The scanty radical representation, noticeably uncomfortable, had to settle for a corner of the room to wait for the judge’s decision.

A little over an hour after the hearing began, the judge for the case, Jefferson Sellers, declared: “I deny the petition from the state to deny the lawsuit against 1804, please Professor Thomas, continue with your explanation of the unconstitutionality of the law.”

On April 1, Abstinence Ruled

Juan Miret
Hispano de Tulsa

Tulsa, OK – Only a mere 6 percent voted in the past district elections. Once again, abstinence overcame Oklahoma. Only 16,000 people exercised their constitutional right to vote, while 225,000 ignored the process.

District 4 had the most voters with 3,000 people. Democrat Maria Barnes could not hold on to her seat, yielding it to Republican Eric Gomez by only 162 votes.

Barnes bids her farewell leaving a legacy of respect for the immigrant community and making her historical imprint by rejecting the discriminatory district ordinance of May 2007.

The district referred to as the “Hispanic District” was the one with the lowest participation. Only about 1,300 votes were deposited in the ballot boxes. The doors were shut for Republican Kevin Boggs only by a meager 75 votes. We will have to wait until 2010 for a change.

District 3, located on the north side of the city, surprised many. Roscoe Turner, who had been deemed the favorite, could not hold on to his current position and was defeated by Independent David Patrick who rose to victory with 54% of the votes.

Patrick was finally able to defeat his archrival Turner after having been in competition for seven consecutive district elections.

Republican Bill Christiansen literally crushed Democrat Austin Hansen by obtaining 86% of the votes. With this result the community in District 8, located in the south of Tulsa, showed its approval of Christiansen’s management by granting him two more years in office.

District 9, located in the south-east part of the city, elected one of the youngest candidates, Republican G.T. Bynum who at 30 years of age became the new district representative.

The legitimacy of the council men for 2008-2010 cannot be questioned, even with only 6% of voters participating.

Abstinence overwhelmed this election and the power of call for voters was weak.

Maybe people are preoccupied with other things and the elections are just not part of their to-do list; on April 1, 225,000 people made it clear: elections are not important in Oklahoma.

(Translated by Rosario Guerra)