Wyrick nominated to federal judgeship
Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Patrick Wyrick, who is on President Donald Trump’s list of possible U.S. Supreme Court choices, was nominated Tuesday for a federal judgeship in Oklahoma City.
The 37-year-old rising star in conservative legal circles was formerly the state’s solicitor general under then-Attorney General Scott Pruitt. He argued the state’s position in the 2015 lethal injection case Glossip v. Gross before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning a narrow 5-4 majority. “Patrick Wyrick is well-suited for the position, serving for six years as the solicitor general of Oklahoma before becoming justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma,” said Sen. Jim Inhofe, a Tulsa Republican.
Wyrick’s nomination will require confirmation by the U.S. Senate and his handling of the Glossip case likely will be scrutinized. His office falsely told the Supreme Court it had sent a letter on execution drug availability to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections when it had instead sent the letter to another state. Pruitt later called the claim an “inadvertent” error after a report in Buzzfeed highlighted the inaccuracy.
A native of Atoka, Wyrick was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court just 14 months ago by Gov. Mary Fallin. Two southeastern Oklahoma residents sued to stop the appointment, claiming Wyrick was not a resident of the southeastern Oklahoma judicial district he was appointed to represent. The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit.
A.J. Ferate, president of the Oklahoma City chapter of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, praised Trump’s nomination Tuesday.
“When one reads an opinion by Justice Wyrick, they are not reading an aspirational statement, but reading, with thorough reasoning, what the law is,” Ferate said. “The White House could not have made a better choice with this selection.”
In November, the White House announced Wyrick is one of the people on Trump’s running list of 25 potential U.S. Supreme Court choices, saying “the president remains deeply committed to identifying and selecting outstanding jurists in the mold of Justice (Neil) Gorsuch,” a reference to Trump’s prior Supreme Court nominee.
If Wyrick is confirmed by the Senate, his ascension will leave an opening on the Oklahoma Supreme Court to be filled by the governor. It will be the third time Fallin has filled a vacancy on the high court. Last week, she appointed District Judge Richard Darby to succeed former Justice Joseph Wyatt, who retired last year.
Trump on Monday also nominated a Tulsa attorney, John O’Connor, to serve as a roving district judge across Oklahoma’s three federal jurisdictions, which are based in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Muskogee. “Justice Wyrick and John O’Connor are dedicated and principled Oklahomans that will uphold the rule of law while serving the nation from the bench,” said Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma City Republican.