Mike Morgan (born January 26, 1955) is an American
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, Morgan served as the
President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate
The President ''pro tempore'' of the Oklahoma Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the Oklahoma Senate and the highest-ranking state senator. The Oklahoma Constitution designates the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma as the highest-r ...
during the
51st Oklahoma Legislature
The Fifty-first Oklahoma Legislature was a meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Oklahoma, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. State legislators met at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City from January ...
.
Early life and education
Morgan was born in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
on January 26, 1955. He graduated from
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
in 1976 with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
. He then attended the
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...
and earned a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
in 1979.2005 Alamanc Oklahoma Department of Libraries, p. 81.
Legal and political career
Morgan practiced law in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and was also an adjunct professor of business law at Oklahoma State University. From 1984 to 1996, he was a municipal judge for the City of Stillwater. Following his conviction, Morgan's license to practice law was suspended by the
Oklahoma Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Senate
The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.
Morgan served as Senate president pro tem in 2005 and 2006 and co-president pro tem in 2007 and 2008. The "co-president" position came about due to an unprecedented 24-24 deadlock between Democrats and Republicans in the state Senate following the 2006 elections. He could not run for re-election in 2008 due to term limits.
Morgan received the Bill Lowry Library Champion Award from the Oklahoma Library Association in 2007.
Bribery conviction
In 2011, Morgan was indicted on 63 federal charges, alongside a lobbyist and an attorney from Oklahoma City. In March 2012, following a trial, Morgan was convicted of one count of
program bribery Theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds (sometimes referred to as program fraud or program bribery) is a federal crime under . The purpose of this statute is protect the integrity of the vast sums of money distributed through Ad ...
; on all the other charges, he was either acquitted, the jury deadlocked, or prosecutors dropped the charges. The conviction was in connection with Morgan's acceptance of $12,000 from an operator of assisted-living centers at a time when Morgan wrote legislation of assisted-living centers that was enacted into law. The charges against Morgan's co-defendants were either dropped or resulted in an acquittal.Nolan Clay Former Oklahoma Senate leader Mike Morgan is sentenced to probation ''The Oklahoman'' (January 8, 2013).
The judge in the case,
Robin Cauthron
Robin Louise Johnson Cauthron (born July 14, 1950) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Biography
Born in Edmond, Oklahoma, Cauthron received a Bachelor of Arts fro ...
, was critical of the strength of the prosecution's case, saying at the sentencing hearing in 2013 that Morgan's conviction "was based on some very suspect evidence, based on the testimony of a convicted felon, resulting in a bill that no one has ever complained about." The judge originally sentenced Morgan to five years of probation, the forfeiture of $12,000 to the federal government, and 104 hours of community service.
Prosecutors challenged the sentence to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Colorado
* District of Kansas
* Distri ...