Steven Taylor
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Steven W. Taylor is the Vice-Chief Justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was appointed to this court by Governor Brad Henry on September 24, 2004. He was retained by voters on November 7, 2006[1] and his current term ends in 2012.
Background and Education
Vice-Chief Justice Steven W. Taylor was born June 7, 1949 in Henryetta, Oklahoma. He graduated from McAlester Public Schools in 1967. He earned his B.A. in Political Science from Oklahoma State University in 1971. Justice Taylor received the Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1974.
Taylor joined the United States Marine Corps in 1970 and served on active duty from 1974-1978. He was trained as an infantry platoon commander and later served as a prosecutor and Chief Defense Counsel. In 1977 he became the youngest judge in the U.S. Armed Forces. He was promoted to the rank of Major.[2]
Legal Career
Following his active duty service in the Marines, Taylor practiced law in McAlester from 1978-1984. In 1980 he was elected to the McAlester City Council and in 1982 was elected Mayor of McAlester, making him the youngest Mayor in that city’s history. He was named one of Three Outstanding Young Oklahomans for 1983. In 1985, in recognition of Taylor’s leadership in economic development, the City of McAlester named a multi-million dollar industrial park for him where many industries now employ several hundred Oklahomans. In 1997 he was named “Citizen of the Year” in McAlester. Taylor serves on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the Oklahoma Heritage Association. He is a member of Grand Avenue United Methodist Church.[2]
Memberships and Awards
In 2002 Taylor was recognized by Oklahoma State University as a “Leadership Legacy” and 2003 “Distinguished Alumnus”. In 2007 Justice Taylor was inducted into the Oklahoma State University Hall of Fame.
In March 1984 Governor George Nigh appointed Taylor Associate District Judge for Pittsburg County. In 1991 he was the first Associate District Judge ever to be elected President of the Oklahoma Judicial Conference. In 1994, Taylor was elected District Judge of the 18th Judicial District. In 1997 and 2003 he was elected Presiding Judge of the ten county East-Central Judicial Administrative District. Taylor was the recipient of the Oklahoma Bar Association “Award of Judicial Excellence” in 2003 as the outstanding Oklahoma judge of the year.
In his over 20 years as a trial judge, he presided over more than 500 jury trials including the Terry Nichols Oklahoma City bombing case.
During the 2007 Oklahoma Centennial year Oklahoma magazine named Justice Taylor as one of the “100 Who Shaped Us”- a list of living and past Oklahomans who influenced the first 100 years of Oklahoma.[2]
Personal Life
His wife Mary is a teacher in the McAlester Public Schools. They have one son Wilson.[2]
In the News: Articles
Judge Steven Taylor and the Nichols Trial
Terry Nichols' trial on the Oklahoma City Murrah Bombing, was moved to Judge Steven W. Taylor's hometown of McAlester, Oklahoma, approximately 130 miles from Oklahoma City. The judge decided on the move in order to ensure a fair trial and prevent publicity from influencing the jurors. Even after the move it was difficult to find jurors who were impartial.[3]
After his Federal trial, Nichols was returned to Oklahoma in January 2000 to face 161 counts of first-degree murder. On May 26, 2004 he was found guilty on all charges. It took the six-man, six-woman jury five hours to produce a verdict. The penalty phase of the trial started on June 1, 2004. After 19½ hours of deliberation over a period of three days, the jury indicated on June 11, the third anniversary of the execution of his co-defendant, Timothy McVeigh, that it was deadlocked over whether Nichols should receive the death penalty. With the death penalty no longer an option, the sentencing was in the hands of Presiding Judge Steven W. Taylor, who determined that Terry Nichols should be sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.[4]
On The Issues
On Education
2007
- Justice Taylor vigorously dissented from the majority opinion of Justice Rudolph Hargrave. That majority opinion affirmed the trial judge's finding that the school district did not adequately demonstrate that a teacher who slapped and otherwise physically attacked a special-needs child deserved to have his employment terminated.
On Elections Law
2006
- Justice Taylor concurred in Justice Watt's opinion invalidating citizens' efforts to place a Tax Payer Bill of Rights (TABOR) on the Oklahoma ballot due to the use of out-of-state petition circulators by the initiative's supporters.
- Justice Taylor concurred in the majority opinion of Justice Yvonne Kauger, which invalidated a property-rights based voter initiative that would have protected private property from economic-development and regulatory takings
On Employer/Employee Rights
2007
- Justice Taylor concurred in the opinion of Justice James E. Lavender finding that an employer had the right to terminate the employment of an employee who insisted on pursuing a claim against a third party under Oklahoma's Open Records Act, as there was no "public policy exception" to such a firing.
On Negligence/Personal Responsibility
2007
- Justice Taylor authored the opinion of the Court in this case, finding Dish Network was not responsible for the injuries of a customer who fell off the roof of her home while tyring to repair her Dish Network satellite dish, even though Dish Network refused to make the repairs, and encouraged the customer to climb up onto the roof and make the repairs herself.
On Property Rights
2006
- Justice Taylor concurred in the majority opinion of Justice Yvonne Kauger, which invalidated a property-rights based voter initiative what would have protected private property from economic-development and regulatory takings.
External links
References
Portions of this biography were taken from Wikipedia on December 12, 2007.
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The Oklahoma Project on Judgepedia
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