Former state Sen. Gene Stipe is entitled to his full pension as a state legislator because the federal crimes to which he pleaded guilty were not a violation of his oath of office, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
In its ruling, the high court upheld an Oklahoma County judge's decision that Stipe's state pension should not be reduced because of his guilty pleas.
With 54 years of legislative service as a House and Senate member, Stipe, 81, is eligible for a $7,042 monthly pension. The court also upheld a district court ruling that he be paid the cumulative amount of his pension benefits that he should have received since his 2003 retirement; that amount wasn't immediately clear Tuesday.
In 2003, Stipe resigned from the state Senate and pleaded guilty to federal violations involving the 1998 congressional campaign of Democrat Walt Roberts, Stipe's protege.
Chief Justice James Winchester was the only dissenter in the Supreme Court's 7-1 decision Tuesday. "Although abiding by federal campaign laws might not have been explicitly stated in the Senator's oath of office, I would assert that tampering with an election strikes at the very heart of ‘support, obey and defend the Constitution,'” Winchester said.
Question of oaths
The Supreme Court said the oath of office requires an officeholder to swear to support, obey and defend the constitutions of the United States and the state of Oklahoma.
The officeholder swears he will not knowingly receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing for performance or nonperformance of any act and swears to faithfully discharge his duties to the best of his ability.
"It is immediately apparent that the crimes to which Stipe pled guilty in district court for the District of Columbia do not facially constitute a violation of Stipe's oath of office,” the Supreme Court said. "The (federal) plea agreement even contains a provision that the parties agree that the defendant's conduct, as set forth in the Factual Basis for Plea and Information, did not relate to or arise from his duties as a public official or state senator from Oklahoma.
Read The Oklahoma Supreme Court Ruling
Next Story
