The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on April 13 that the Norman City Council violated the state’s Open Meeting Act, or Sunshine Act, when it approved a budget that slashed $865,000 from police department funding in June last year, amid calls to “defund the police” spurred by social justice advocates in response to the May death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The state’s top court unanimously upheld a December ruling from the Cleveland County District Court that found cutting the sum from the police department’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget violated the law, after the Norman Fraternal Order of Police filed a lawsuit against the city council.
