Higgins v. Branam

LUMPKIN, VICE-PRESIDING JUDGE:

CONCUR IN PART/DISSENT IN PART

T1 I concur in the Court's authority to adjudicate the legal issues before it. However, I must dissent when the Court oversteps its bounds and violates the doctrine of separation of powers by interfering with the manner in which the executive branch administers sentences.

T2 The authority of the executive branch, for our purposes, the Department of Corree-tions, to administer sentences is well established by case law and state statute. See Fields v. Driesel, 1997 OK CR 33, ¶¶ 20-21, 941 P.2d 1000, 1005. In Williams v. State, 2004 OK…