Sean Murphy, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - Copies of the Bible are displayed Aug. 12, 2024, at the Bixby High School library in Bixby, Okla. (AP Photo/Joey Johnson, File)

New Oklahoma schools superintendent rescinds mandate for Bible instruction in schools

October 15, 2025

Oklahoma’s new public schools superintendent is rescinding a mandate from his predecessor that forced schools to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for students. Superintendent Lindel Fields said in a statement Wednesday he has “no plans to distribute Bibles or a Biblical character education curriculum in classrooms.” The directive last year from former Superintendent Ryan Walters drew immediate condemnation from civil rights groups and prompted a lawsuit from a group of parents, teachers and religious leaders. It would have applied to students in grades 5 to 12. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Fields to the post after Walters resigned to take a job in the private sector.

FILE - This March 4, 2025, photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows John Fitzgerald Hanson. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP,File)

Oklahoma court clears the way for execution of a man convicted in a Tulsa woman’s killing

June 11, 2025

An Oklahoma appeals court has ordered a stay of execution for a man on death row to be lifted, clearing the way for him to receive a lethal injection. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals issued its order on Wednesday. John Fitzgerald Hanson has been scheduled to be executed Thursday for killing a Tulsa woman in 1999. A district court judge temporarily halted the execution Monday after Hanson’s attorneys argued he didn’t receive a fair clemency hearing before the state’s Pardon and Parole Board. The attorneys argued the 3-2 vote against Hanson was tainted because one board member worked for the district attorney’s office that prosecuted his case.

Oklahoma man who was given 3 last meals will stand trial again but won’t face the death penalty

June 9, 2025

Oklahoma prosecutors say they will pursue a murder charge, but not the death penalty, against longtime death row inmate Richard Glossip for his role in the 1997 killing of his former boss. The decision announced Monday comes after the U.S. Supreme Court in February tossed Glossip’s conviction and death sentence. Glossip was twice convicted and sentenced to die for the killing of Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese in what prosecutors say was a murder-for-hire. Glossip has come so near to being executed that he ate three last meals while on death row. But the U.S. Supreme Court determined that prosecutors failed to correct testimony from a key witness they knew to be false.

Tulsa’s new Black mayor proposes $100M trust to ‘repair’ impact of 1921 Race Massacre

June 1, 2025

Tulsa’s new mayor on Sunday proposed a $100 million private trust as part of a reparations plan to give descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre scholarships and housing help. The proposal is a city-backed bid to make amends for one of the worst racial attacks in U.S. history. The plan by Mayor Monroe Nichols would not provide direct cash payments to descendants or the last two centenarian survivors of the attack that killed as many as 300 Black people. Nichols is the first Black mayor of Oklahoma’s second-largest city. He made the announcement in the once-thriving Greenwood District that was destroyed by a white mob.

Sean Murphy.

New Oklahoma schools superintendent rescinds mandate for Bible instruction in schools

Oklahoma court clears the way for execution of a man convicted in a Tulsa woman’s killing

Oklahoma man who was given 3 last meals will stand trial again but won’t face the death penalty

Tulsa’s new Black mayor proposes $100M trust to ‘repair’ impact of 1921 Race Massacre

Finance.