Untitled Document

Statewide Judicial Retention Ballot
Oklahoma Supreme Court

JUSTICE JOHN F. REIF, District No. 1

Appointed: October 22, 2007 by Governor Brad Henry
Born: June 19, 1951
Education: Cascia Hall of Tulsa, 1969
University of Tulsa, Bachelor’s, 1973
University of Tulsa, Juris Doctor, 1977
Business & Professional Positions: Planner and Grants Specialist for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, Indian Nations Council of Government, 1974 – 1977; Assistant District Attorney for Tulsa County, 1978 – 1981; Business Law Adjunct Professor; Oral Roberts University, 1983 - 2007
Public Service: Police Officer for the City of Owasso, Oklahoma, 1973 – 1975; Faculty Member, National Tribal Judicial Center of the National Judicial College, Reno, Nevada
Judicial Service: Special District Judge for the Fourteenth Judicial District, 1981 – 1984; Judge for the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, 1984 – 2002; Court’s Vice Chief Judge, 1993 and 2001; Chief Judge, 1994 and 2002
Awards: Oral Roberts University – President’s Distinguished Service Award, 1995
Professional Organizations: Oklahoma Bar Association, 1978 to present.

Justice Reif and his wife have been married 34 years.

Tom Colbert, District 6

Justice Tom Colbert, the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, was born in Oklahoma City. He graduated from Sapulpa High School, earned an associate’s degree from Eastern Oklahoma State College in 1970, and a bachelor of science degree from Kentucky State University in 1973. While at Kentucky State, Justice Colbert was named an All-American in track and field. Justice Colbert served in the United States Army and received an honorable discharge in 1975. He earned a master of education degree from Eastern Kentucky University in 1976 and taught in the public schools in Chicago. Justice Colbert received his juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma in 1982. He was an Assistant Dean at Marquette University Law School from 1982-1984 and an Assistant District Attorney in Oklahoma County from 1984-1986, before entering private law practice at Miles-LaGrange & Colbert from 1986-1989. Justice Colbert continued his practice under the name Colbert and Associates from 1989-2000. He also served as an attorney for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services from 1988-89 and in 1999. In March of 2000, Justice Colbert became the first African-American appointed to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. He served as Chief Judge of that Court in 2004. On October 7, 2004, Governor Brad Henry appointed Justice Colbert to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. Justice Colbert is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Oklahoma Bar Association, and the Tulsa County Bar Association. He participates in the Track & Field Masters Level, a mentoring program for young men, and a summer reading program for children, and is a frequent speaker at schools. Office: State Capitol Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Telephone: (405) 521-3843.

Joseph M. Watt, Dist. 9 was born in Austin, Texas, March 8, 1947. He graduated from Austin High School in 1965. He received his B.A. degree in History/Government from Texas Tech University in 1969, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree from the University of Texas Law School in 1972. That same year, Watt was named Outstanding Law Student in the Nation by the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity and he was elected to the University of Texas Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa National Honorary Leadership. Watt was admitted to practice law in both Texas and Oklahoma. He moved to Altus, Oklahoma, in 1973, and was in private practice there from 1973 to 1985. During that time, he served as City Prosecutor for 12 years and as City Attorney from 1980 to 1985. Watt was appointed Special District Judge for Jackson County, Oklahoma, in 1985, and thereafter, was elected by voters to be Associate District Judge in 1986. He served in that capacity until January, 1991, when he was asked to serve as Governor’s General Counsel. On May 18, 1992, Watt was appointed to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma and was retained by the voters in 1994, 1996 and again in 2002. Having served as Vice-Chief Justice in 2001and 2002, Watt was unanimously elected by his colleagues on the Supreme Court to serve as Chief Justice in 2003 and 2004. He was again chosen by his colleagues to serve a second consecutive term as Chief Justice beginning in 2005. Watt served the Oklahoma Judicial Conference as Vice-President for two years, President-Elect, and during 1996 as President. He was a member of the Appellate Division on the Court on Judiciary 1997-2002 and Supreme Court Liaison to the Oklahoma Bar Association, 1997-2002. Watt is a past Secretary and President of the Altus Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. Watt and his wife, Cathy, are the parents of Justin, Christopher, Jennifer (married to Jon Miller) and Michael. They have two grandchildren, Benjamin Watt Miller and Mary Grace Miller. His interests include his family and —- on rarer occasions — a round of golf. Office: Room 245, State Capitol Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Telephone: (405) 521-3848.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

Charles A. Johnson, Dist. 2 CHARLES A. JOHNSON, received a B.A. and LLB from the University of Oklahoma. Judge Johnson started practice in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, later moving to Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he was a senior law partner with the law firm of Phipps, Johnson, Holmes & Hermanson, and the Johnson Law Firm. In 1989, he was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals by Governor Henry Bellmon. He was selected as one of three Outstanding Young Oklahomans by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. He is married to Jan Grant Johnson, now a private practitioner in Norman, Oklahoma. He retired as a Colonel from the U.S. Air Force Reserve and received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. Selected in 1993 as the Outstanding Appellate Judge by the Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association and served as Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals 1995-96 and 2003-04. Office: Room 233, State Capitol Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Telephone (405) 521-2159.

Gary L. Lumpkin, Dist. 3
Gary L. Lumpkin was appointed from Judicial District No. 3 in November 1988 by Governor Henry Bellmon and took office January 9, 1989. Originally a native of Sentinel, Oklahoma, Judge Lumpkin and his wife subsequently established their home in Madill. Judge Lumpkin graduated from Southwestern State College, Weatherford, OK, in 1968 and the University of Oklahoma School of Law in 1974. He was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar Association in 1974. Judge Lumpkin served with the U.S. Marine Corps 1968-71, serving 18 months in Vietnam. He continued serving in the reserves and retired after 30 years of service with the rank of Colonel. He served as Associate District Judge, Marshall County and District Judge 20th Judicial District 1982 to 1989.

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals

Jerry L. Goodman, Dist. 1, Office No. 1
Age: 69
Length of Residence in Oklahoma: entire life
Admission to Bar: 1964
Biography:
Born on April 17, 1939, in Mangum, Oklahoma, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tulsa in 1961, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University in 1964 and was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar the same year. He was appointed to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals on July 26, 1994. He is a member of the Oklahoma, and Tulsa County Bar Associations, American Judicature Society, and the Oklahoma Judicial Conference. Goodman and his wife have four adult children, Courtney, Polly, Mallory and Benjamin and have four young granddaughters

Jane P. Wiseman, Dist. 1, Office No. 2
Age: 61
Length of Residence in Oklahoma: 38 years
Admission to the Bar: 1974
The Honorable Jane P. Wiseman is a Judge of the Court of Civil Appeals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1969, a Master of Arts degree in American History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1971, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law in December 1973.

She began clerking for the Tulsa law firm of Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold in her second term in law school and continued as a legal intern and then as an associate until her first child was born in 1975. Judge Wiseman was a sole practitioner until January 1977 when she was appointed a Special Judge for Tulsa County. In 1981, the Governor appointed her a District Judge where she was assigned first to the Family Relations Division and then to the Civil Division; in both Divisions, she has served as Chief Judge. In March 2005, she was appointed to the Court of Civil Appeals in Tulsa by Governor Brad Henry.

Judge Wiseman has served on the faculty of the National Judicial College in Nevada, and has taught case management for the American Academy of Judicial Education.

She is married to Jim Hodges and has two sons, James and John, and two sons-by-marriage, Clayton and Kevin.

Keith Rapp, Dist. 2, Office No. 2 Chief Judge

Appointed: Dec. 1984. Retained by election Nov. 1990, Nov. 1996 and Nov. 2002. Current term expires Jan. 2009. Former Vice Chief Judge. Southwest Missouri State University B.S. in Mathematics and Chemistry 1958, Graduate studies in Mathematics and Statistics, University of Missouri, University of Arizona, University of Minnesota, University of Tulsa J.D. 1968, and University of Virginia M.L. in Judicial Process 1990. Associate Editor Tulsa Law Journal. Recipient Scholarship Key. Admitted to practice Oklahoma 1968, U.S. District Courts Northern, Eastern and Western Districts of Oklahoma, U.S. Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. Judge, Bixby Municipal Court 1976-77. Alternate Judge, Tulsa Municipal Court 1977-78. District Judge, Oklahoma District Court Fourteenth Judicial District 1981-83. Prosecutor Broken Arrow 1969-71. Public Defender Tulsa 1970-71.

John F. Fischer, Dist. 3, Office No. 2 Born September 23, 1948, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Fischer received a bachelor and master’s degrees in English Literature from the University of Oklahoma. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1975, and was admitted to practice law in Oklahoma in 1976. He has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court since 1979. From 1976 to 1980 he was as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma. He was in private law practice from 1980 until 2006 during which time he was selected by his peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America, in commercial litigation. While in law school, Fischer received the Liberty National Bank Research Scholarship. He is a Master of the Bench and past-president of the William J. Holloway American Inn of Court, CV, member of Oklahoma Lawyers for Children and author of various articles on antitrust law and healthcare issues. He has been involved in various art’s and community activities and served as a member and chair of several State and County Bar committees. He is a member and of the Oklahoma and American Bar Foundation, the Oklahoma Judicial Conference, a fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation and the past Oklahoma representative to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Advisory Committee. In May 2006 Governor Brad Henry appointed Fischer to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. Fischer and his wife, Pam, have been married since 1972. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Andrea.

League of Women Voters of Oklahoma