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Legal Ethics

Just "Felonious Peccadillos"; I'm "Overqualified for Oklahoma"; Bar Association, "Bring It on Bitch": Surprisingly Ineffective in Fighting Disbarment

Eugene Volokh | 5.4.2026 8:32 AM

Some excerpts from the long opinion in State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. Barlean, decided Tuesday by the Oklahoma Supreme Court (opinion by Justice Kuehn); Barlean appears to have been a former candidate for the Oklahoma state legislature:

On January 5, 2023, Respondent pled guilty to two misdemeanor charges of Domestic Assault and Battery …. Both charges stemmed from violent incidents involving Respondent and a woman with whom he had a romantic relationship. On August 16, 2021, during an argument, Respondent strangled or choked the woman until she gave him her car keys. He was arrested, charged with a felony and bound over for trial. While out on bond, on December 2, 2022, during another fight Respondent pushed the woman down a flight of stairs, injuring her arm. He was arrested again and charged with a misdemeanor.

Under Respondent's plea agreement, the felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and Respondent pled guilty to both charges. He agreed to supervised probation with requirements including restitution, community service,........

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