Crowe Dunlevy successfully represented the Muskogee County Commissioners before the Oklahoma Supreme Court in a high-profile constitutional dispute involving an effort to impanel a criminal grand jury. The matter centered on the interpretation of signature requirements under Article 2, Section 18 of the Oklahoma Constitution and whether petitioners had obtained a sufficient number of signatures to authorize the proceeding. After adverse rulings below, the Firm sought extraordinary relief, arguing that the constitutional provisions governing grand jury petitions must be read in harmony with related initiative and referendum provisions.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed, holding that the petitioners failed to satisfy the required signature threshold and granting a writ of prohibition preventing the grand jury from being impaneled. The decision provided important guidance on constitutional interpretation and protected the Commissioners from a politically charged legal challenge.