The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday announced it would not hear the appeal of a group challenging a nearly 30-year old bribed Oklahoma Corporation Commission rate case that has been allowed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to stand. One that involves an attempt to force ATT to reimburse $16 billion in charges to consumers in Oklahoma.
The high court denied “certiorari” to Oklahomans Against Bribery including former Nichols Hills Mayor Sody Clement. She and others, including retired Tinker Air Force Base General Richard Burpee have led the fight for several years, maintaining that AT and T, the company that acquired Southwestern Bell Telephone Company should reimburse ratepayers an estimated $16 billion.
So far, there has been no response from Oklahomans Against Bribery. But it was in March when the group filed an appeal of a December 2017 ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court that again upheld the bribed vote. The appeal also came after the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, on a 2-1 vote refused to proceed with a review of the bribery.
The group filed a petition for writ of certiorari, arguing their “right to petition” under the First Amendment was violated when the Corporation Commission dismissed the bribery refund application with prejudice, meaning they can never raise the issue again.
The handful of consumers also argued the First Amendment guaranteed them the right “to petition the government for a redress of grievances” and that their 2015 bribery refund application to the OCC was in effect a request to redress the grievance of ATT’s bribery.
The bribed 1989 vote led to the federal conviction of then-Corporation Commissioner Bob Hopkins and SW Bell attorney Bill Anderson.