OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Supreme Court handed down pivotal decisions in 2013 that overturned legislative efforts at lawsuit reform, tax cuts and other issues as the state's highest court flexed its muscles as the leader of Oklahoma's judiciary.
In June, a civil justice reform measure hailed in 2009 as the most comprehensive bill to ever affect Oklahoma's legal system was declared unconstitutional by the state's highest court. In December, justices nullified legislation to slash the state's personal income tax rate and provide $120 million for repairs to the Capitol.
Other courts influenced Oklahoma during the year. A series of federal court decisions blocked enforcement of the federal health care law's mandate that the health insurance coverage offered by Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., and religious institutions include access to the morning-after pill.