Thad H. Balkman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the OklahomaHouseofRepresentatives from the 45 district | |
| In office 2000–2006 | |
| Preceded by | Wallace Collins |
| Succeeded by | Wallace Collins |
Thad H. Balkman (born October 23,1971) is an American politician,lawyer and judge.
Thad H. Balkman | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Member of the OklahomaHouseofRepresentatives from the 45 district | |
| In office 2000–2006 | |
| Preceded by | Wallace Collins |
| Succeeded by | Wallace Collins |
Thad H. Balkman (born October 23,1971) is an American politician,lawyer and judge.
Balkman grew up as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his family in Long Beach,California,attending Long Beach Polytechnic High School. [1] [2] His home in Long Beach was the house used as the titular character's home in Ferris Bueller's Day Off . [3] He attended Brigham Young University,where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1994. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1998. [4] [5]
In 1998,Balkman started his legal career at the Stanley Ward Law Offices in Norman,a small private practice where he practiced employment law. [6] Balkman then served as General Counsel for the Association of Professional Oklahoma Educators from 2001 to 2002. [7] Balkman continued his legal career with Lee and Wells Law Firm where he continued to practice employment law. He then worked as General Counsel and Vice President of External Relations for Phoenix Motorcars,an electric vehicle startup company. In that capacity he testified before the United States Senate Energy Committee. [8] [9] He worked for the law firm that represented 1996 Republican candidate Steve Byas,who sued incumbent Oklahoma House of Representatives member Wallace Collins for libel. [2] [10] Balkman campaigned for Eric Hawkins in 1998,who lost to Collins. [11] In September 2023,The American Law Institute announced that Balkman had been elected to the Institute. [12]
Balkman won the Republican nomination for District 45 of the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2000,running against John English and Randy Boyd, [13] and defeated Collins in the general election. [11] Balkman faced Collins for a second time in 2002,and retained his seat. [2] [14] Two years later,he faced Estelle Cash,and won a third legislative term. [15] Balkman was subsequently named leader of the House Republican Caucus and the Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Health and Social Services. [16] Balkman was a member of the Conference Committee that wrote Oklahoma's 2003 Tort Reform law,and was appointed to serve as a member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. He was voted out of office in 2006,and succeeded by Collins. [14]
In October 2013,Governor Mary Fallin appointed Balkman to the district court based in Cleveland County,where he succeeded justice Tom Lucas. [17] [18] Balkman took office on November 1,2013. [19] [20] He won a full term on the bench in 2014 and a second term in 2018. [4] Balkman is the President of the Oklahoma Judges Association. [21]
In the biggest case of his career,he heard "the opioid trial",in which the State of Oklahoma sued the pharmaceutical company Johnson &Johnson,accusing them of pushing opioid drugs in the state. On August 26,2019,Balkman found Johnson &Johnson responsible for creating a "public nuisance" under state law,saying that the company's "misleading marketing and promotion of opioids created a nuisance" and that it "compromised the health and safety of thousands of Oklahomans." [1] He ordered the company to pay a fine of $572 million. It was the first such judgment in the nation. The company said they will appeal. [22]
He was awarded the "Sunshine Award" by Freedom of Information Oklahoma for allowing press and cameras into the courtroom during "the opioid trial." [23]
On November 9,2021,the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned Balkman's verdict against Johnson &Johnson in a 5-1 decision. [24] The Court's opinion states that Balkman "erred in extending [Oklahoma's] public nuisance statute to the manufacturing,marketing,and selling of prescription opioids." The Court's ruling also notes that Balkman "[stepped] into the shoes of the legislature by creating and funding government programs designed to address social and health issues" in an "unprecedented expansion of public nuisance law." [25] While still involved in litigation with other states,it is now unlikely Johnson &Johnson will pay any money to the State of Oklahoma for its past manufacturing and marketing of opioids.
Balkman was the executive director of the Oklahoma 100 Ideas project in 2007–2008. [26] He co-founded the Oklahoma branch of the Brigham Young University Management Society in 2009. [27] He later became executive director of the Oklahoma Lawyers Association. [28] In May 2020 Balkman was a speaker at the Oklahoma National Day of Prayer Event. [29] Balkman served as the Boy Scouts of America Assistant Scoutmaster and Chairman of the Sooner District. [30] He was also inducted in the Child Advocates Hall of Fame by the Oklahoma Institute of Child Advocacy. [31]
Balkman is married to Amy,with whom he has five children. [17] [19] He also served as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [20]
Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 American teen comedy film written,co-produced,and directed by John Hughes. The film stars Matthew Broderick,Mia Sara,and Alan Ruck,with supporting roles from Jennifer Grey,Jeffrey Jones,Cindy Pickett,Edie McClurg,Lyman Ward,and Charlie Sheen. It tells the story of a charismatic high school slacker,Ferris,who skips school with his best friend Cameron and his girlfriend Sloane for a day in Chicago,regularly breaking the fourth wall to explain his techniques and inner thoughts.
Jeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor,known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus (1984),Edward R. Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986),Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice (1988),Dr. Skip Tyler in The Hunt for Red October (1990),Eddie Barzoon in The Devil's Advocate (1997),and A.W. Merrick in both Deadwood (2004–2006) and Deadwood:The Movie (2019).
The J. Reuben Clark Law School is the law school of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo,Utah. Founded in 1973,the school is named after J. Reuben Clark,a former U.S. Ambassador,Undersecretary of State,and general authority of the institution's sponsoring organization,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Oklahoma Libertarian Party is the state affiliate of the Libertarian Party in Oklahoma. It has been active in state politics since the 1970s,but due to Oklahoma's ballot access requirements the party has been an officially recognized party during only portions of the last twenty-five years. In 2016,The Oklahoma Libertarian Party regained ballot access. The state party has secured ballot access through at least 2024.
James R. Winchester is an American lawyer and judge who has served as on the Oklahoma Supreme Court for district 5 since 2000. He had two-year terms as chief justice of the Supreme Court beginning in 2007 and 2017.
Luther Lee Bohanon was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma,the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Billy Michael Burrage is a Native American attorney and former United States district judge who served between 1994 and 2001.
Dan Aaron Polster is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Polster mediated a settlement between the city of Cleveland and the family of Tamir Rice,a 12-year-old black boy who was killed by a white police officer in 2014. In December 2017,a federal judicial panel selected Polster to preside over more than 3,000 consolidated prescription opioid-related lawsuits in multidistrict litigation known as the National Prescription Opiate Litigation. A trial for the litigation began in October 2021.
Michael J. Hunter is an American politician from the state of Oklahoma. Hunter served as the Secretary of State of Oklahoma from 1999 to 2002,having been appointed by Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating. On November 1,2016,he was appointed to the same post by Governor Mary Fallin. He also served as Special Counsel to the Governor. On February 20,2017,Hunter was appointed Attorney General of Oklahoma to replace Scott Pruitt who resigned to become the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. On November 8,2018,Hunter won election as Attorney General.
P. Kay Floyd is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who has represented the 46th district in the Oklahoma Senate since 2014. She has served as the Minority Leader of the Oklahoma Senate since succeeding John Sparks in 2018. She previously served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives representing the 88th district between 2012 and 2014.
Mike Turner is an American Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Guard Wayne Young is a retired American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and was named three-times to the World Championships team,and contributed to a silver medal in the men's team competition in 2001. Three years later,at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens,Young helped his U.S. squad to earn a silver medal in the same program,a best finish since 1984. During his college career,Young has earned six All-American and two NCAA titles in the men's vault. In 2010,Young was inducted to the sports hall of fame by the Brigham Young University.
The 2014 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season,the 120th season of Sooner football. The team was led by two-time Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award winner,Bob Stoops,in his 16th season as head coach. They played their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman,Oklahoma. They were a member of the Big 12 Conference.
Charles Barnes Goodwin is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. He was formerly a United States magistrate judge of the same court.
Ryan Douglas Nelson is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was previously nominated to become Solicitor of the United States Department of the Interior,but was never confirmed.
John Michael O'Connor is an American attorney and politician who served as the 19th attorney general of Oklahoma between 2021 and 2023. O’Connor was previously a shareholder of Hall Estill and a nominee to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma,the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma,and the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Aaron Stiles is an American politician and lawyer.
Wallace Collins is an American politician.
John Kevin Stitt is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma since 2019. A member of the Republican Party,he was elected in 2018,defeating Democrat and former state Attorney General Drew Edmondson with 54.3% of the vote. Stitt was reelected to a second term in 2022,defeating Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister,a Republican turned Democrat,with 55.4% of the vote.
Charles A. Johnson is a former judge of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals,serving from 1989 to 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)