Charles Key
Occupation: Insurance

Charles Key is the incumbent Oklahoma State Representative District 3.

Charles Key has endorsed Ron Paul for President!

Quotes:

Our attorney general is treating the constitutions of this country and this state like so much tissue paper to sneeze on and is a grotesque abuse of Edmondson's office. Apparently Drew Edmondson is more schooled in power politics and trampling the rights of the innocent people than in his basic obligation to uphold the law. Four times now Mister Edmondson has taken an oath of office to 'support, obey and defend' the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma-and to discharge his duties to the 'best of his ability.' You shouldn't make that vow if you're not acquainted with the documents you are vowing to defend. But how you can read them without seeing the parts about the right of citizens to petition their government and the right of Oklahoma citizens to act to bring an initiative question to ballot? And how can you defend these constitutionally protected rights by grasping at some trumped-up technicality to try to destroy innocent people for their good-faith efforts in helping Oklahoma citizens to exercise those rights?

The right of the people "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" is enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. As for the Oklahoma Constitution, it states that "The people have the right peaceably to assemble for their own good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances by petition, address, or remonstrance." Article 5 lays out initiative and referendum rights, and stipulates that "The first power reserved by the people is the initiative.

I hope Attorney General Edmondson will have a chance to review the U.S. Constitution and the Oklahoma State Constitution in the near future. Perhaps his chief of staff can schedule an hour that he can devote to studying them.

Moderator Notes:

Representative Key is best known as one of the few elected officials with serious concerns about the federal investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995.

More recently Key has spoken out against the arrest of the 3 petitioners who were collecting signatures for a Taxpayer's Bill of Rights measure.

Representative Key has put forward legislation to strengthen juries rights including provisions to make jurors fully informed about their powers, rights, and responsibilities.

Here is Representative Key's Oklahome State Government website.