Politics
A push to ease penalties for cockfighting is ruffling feathers

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There are rows and rows of small white structures housing individual roosters on Troy Thompson’s farm in southern Oklahoma.“You know, some people like pigs, some people like horses — I like chickens,” Thompson said.These breeds of colorful Hatches and Kelsos are said to derive from jungle fowl and have historically been bred for fighting, but Thompson said he sells them for breeding purposes.After living in Texas, Thompson decided to return to Oklahoma and raise his own roosters. It’s something he’s been around throughout his life, and he said, it’s pretty typical in the rural communities he knows.“There’s hardly a town you can go to in the state of Oklahoma or any town in Texas where somebody doesn’t know something or own some game fowl in one of those towns,” Thompson said.He is one of 15,000 members of the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, a nonprofit that promotes the interests of game fowl owners.In recent years, the commission has given campaign contributions and advocated for laws to reduce the penalties for cockfighting. The sport was banned in Oklahoma in 2004, but there’s a long tradition in the state.Within the last couple of years, several bills have been introduced in the Oklahoma legislature to reduce the cockfighting penalty from a felony to a misdemeanor in the first two instances or to give individual counties the right to do so. One bill made it through the state’s House of Representatives this past spring, but has not been picked up by the state Senate.Anthony DeVore, president of the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, said it’s about protecting breeders’ rights.“We want to be able to own and raise and sell the game fowl without interpretation of people trying to say that we’re trying to fight them and just not have to look over our shoulders,” he said. “Because, you know they’re flying drones over and saying, ‘Hey, you’ve got an illegal activity,’ and we’re like, ‘We’re just raising chickens.’”
President of the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, Anthony DeVore (left), and Troy Thompson pose for a picture on Thompson’s farm.
Raised in the U.S.Cockfighting has been illegal in all 50 states since 2007, when Louisiana became the last state to outlaw fighting roosters. The same year Congress passed the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, which makes it a federal crime to sell or transport animals or paraphernalia for the purpose of fighting.Yet while cockfighting is illegal, thousands of game fowl are raised in the U.S. each year.“It’s a rampant, huge industry in the United States,” said Leighann Lassiter, director of animal cruelty policy at the Humane Society of the United States.She said American birds — raised in states from California to Oklahoma to North Carolina — are highly prized around the world. Depending on the bird, she said they can be sold anywhere from $75 to upwards of $2,000, often to international buyers in countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico and the Philippines.Lassiter said they’re often sent through the U.S. Postal Service or other carriers.“It’s not illegal to ship a bird,” she said. “It’s illegal to ship a bird for the purpose of fighting. Proving that is where the difficulty comes in. Proving that this person is knowingly shipping that bird and what their intent is. That’s the difficult part.”Cameron Harsh, the U.S. director of programs for World Animal Protection, agrees with Lassiter – proving breeders knowingly sell birds to be fought is a challenge. “I think a lot of individuals are hiding their intent and they’re selling to other businesses in other country markets where it may be tacitly accepted that these animals are going into fighting systems, but it’s not explicitly determined,” Harsh said.While it’s illegal in all U.S. states and territories, fights are still occurring across the country.Fighting pits have been uncovered from Indiana to Texas, and farms raided in Oklahoma and Alabama. Often the birds that are seized are destroyed by authorities, because of the roosters’ instinct to fight and to prevent the spread of disease.
Meredith Lee
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Humane Society of the United StatesLaw enforcement officials, with assistance from the Humane Society of the United States, discovered a pit on the scene of an alleged cockfighting operation in Indiana in November 2022.
The cultureCockfighting is a practice that has been in the U.S. since colonial times. That’s despite criticism from Puritans and an attempt to ban it by the Continental Congress, according to Philip Levy, a history professor at University of South Florida , who’s written a book about chickens.He said the first animal anti-cruelty organization was formed in the U.S. after the Civil War, and efforts to ban bird fighting grew in the late 1800s.“So you always end up like ebb and flow,” Levy said. “It comes and goes and comes and goes. It has been the general lean against it for a long time, but it creeps back in, periodically.”The United Gamefowl Breeders Association was founded about 50 years ago, in response to the Animal Welfare Act, which was passed in 1966. John “Bucky” Harless serves as the group’s public relations director and secretary and often judges shows.“Our goal is preservation of our civil liberties and constitutional rights and the preservation of an ancient strain of chickens,” Harless said. “And if you’re not allowed to raise them, how are they going to survive? You know, they’ll become extinct. They’ll be a dodo bird.”
Anthony DeVore, president of the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, holds a rooster. The group has more than 15,000 members and DeVore said the state has about 5,000 game fowl breeders.
Today, as well as the national organization, there are game fowl groups in several states; including Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois and a newly-formed group in Kentucky.Bryan Plumb belongs to game fowl commissions in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma and raises about 800 roosters a year on his farm in southwest Missouri.Plumb is firm, he’s not involved with anything illegal — he’s interested in preserving the different breeds of roosters. He said he wishes people would take the time to understand the birds, as well as the breeders.“You know, they associate the rooster people with everything. Illegal gambling, drugs, prostitution, you know, that’s wrong,” Plumb said. “But most guys that raise roosters are country folks. There’s a good old boy you run into down to the feed store or the local cafe. They’re not what’s been stereotypically labeled.”When it comes to efforts in Oklahoma to lower penalties for fighting the birds, Plumb said he thinks it’s a good idea.“For me to sit here and tell you that I wouldn’t like to be able to, you know, legally test my birds, I’d be lying to you,” he said. “That’s what they’re bred to do.”In OklahomaAs to whether Oklahomans think penalties for cockfighting should be lowered, it depends on who is asked.According to a Sooner Survey poll conducted a year ago, about 87% of residents believe cockfighting should remain illegal in the state. Meanwhile, DeVore said the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission hired a company to poll Republican primary voters, which found most supported the legislation to lower cockfighting punishments.Back in 2002, Oklahomans voted 56% to 44% to ban cockfighting and make it a felony. The law was challenged, but the state’s Supreme Court upheld it in 2004.Today the state’s game fowl commission points out that cockfighting is a misdemeanor in several states including California — while it’s a felony in Oklahoma and about 40 other states. Those who intentionally breed or sell birds for fighting in Oklahoma can face prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines of up to $25,000.DeVore said the penalties are excessive, especially when compared to other crimes with lower punishments, such as drug possession. He claims teenagers involved in the Future Farmers of America could be prosecuted under the current law, because materials used to raise the birds, such as drop pens, could be interpreted as an intent to fight.“You know, they’re trying to make it to where we can’t raise chickens,” he said. “And that’s all we want to do is be able to own them and raise them without fear of somebody’s interpretation of intent, because the intent law is not defined.”
A rooster crows on Troy Thompson’s farm. Each morning Thompson said he’s up at 4 a.m. to check on the roosters, feed and water them. “It’s a good day when you know everything’s as it should be,” he said.
But prosecutors, including Oklahoma’s former Attorney General Drew Edmondson, said it takes evidence of fighting paraphernalia, such as steroids and gaffs – the barbs that can be attached to roosters’ legs for fights.”I don’t think if what they have are roosters that they use to propagate the species and create more chickens, I don’t think they have any realistic fear of being, in any way harassed or intimidated or much less prosecuted,” Edmondson said.“But there is a big difference between having roosters because you’re raising chickens and having roosters for fighting. It’s just a world of difference.”Edmondson defended the state’s law 20 years ago before the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Now, he is the co-chair of the Law Enforcement Council of Animal Wellness Action.He said cockfighting is usually linked to other criminal activity, mainly gambling.“Can you imagine staging a cockfight without betting going on? I can’t,” Edmondson said. “I don’t know why people would go watch them unless they’re betting on the outcome.”For Edmondson, it’s not surprising breeders are advocating and donating to state legislators in hopes of lowering penalties for cockfighting.“It’s big business for them. There’s money to be made,” he said.Last fall, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt faced an onslaught of criticism when he appeared to show support for the game fowl commission’s work in a short video, which was later released by Animal Wellness Action.In the video, the Republican governor addresses the game fowl commission saying he wanted to “cheer you on from the sidelines.” He goes on to talk about the “long and storied history of game fowl” in the state and the need to protect game fowl farmers in Oklahoma.“I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together in the next legislative session,” Stitt said.At the time, the governor’s communications director, Abegail Cave, said Stitt did not support animal cruelty.“He supports the Oklahoma agricultural industry and often records videos for Oklahoma groups,” Cave said. “No legislation has been presented to him and he hasn’t considered or endorsed any legislation on this topic.”In recent months, Cave has said the governor will not support the bills still in the legislature to lessen penalties for fighting birds.This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.
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Poll: Support for Missouri abortion rights amendment growing

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A proposed constitutional amendment legalizing abortion in Missouri received support from more than half of respondents in a new poll from St. Louis University and YouGov.That’s a boost from a poll earlier this year, which could mean what’s known as Amendment 3 is in a solid position to pass in November.SLU/YouGov’s poll of 900 likely Missouri voters from Aug. 8-16 found that 52% of respondents would vote for Amendment 3, which would place constitutional protections for abortion up to fetal viability. Thirty-four percent would vote against the measure, while 14% aren’t sure.By comparison, the SLU/YouGov poll from February found that 44% of voters would back the abortion legalization amendment.St. Louis University political science professor Steven Rogers said 32% of Republicans and 53% of independents would vote for the amendment. That’s in addition to nearly 80% of Democratic respondents who would approve the measure. In the previous poll, 24% of Republicans supported the amendment.Rogers noted that neither Amendment 3 nor a separate ballot item raising the state’s minimum wage is helping Democratic candidates. GOP contenders for U.S. Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer and secretary of state all hold comfortable leads.“We are seeing this kind of crossover voting, a little bit, where there are voters who are basically saying, ‘I am going to the polls and I’m going to support a Republican candidate, but I’m also going to go to the polls and then I’m also going to try to expand abortion access and then raise the minimum wage,’” Rogers said.Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Kehoe has a 51%-41% lead over Democrat Crystal Quade. And U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley is leading Democrat Lucas Kunce by 53% to 42%. Some GOP candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer have even larger leads over their Democratic rivals.
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St. Louis Public RadioHundreds of demonstrators pack into a parking lot at Planned Parenthood of St. Louis and Southwest Missouri on June 24, 2022, during a demonstration following the Supreme Court’s reversal of a case that guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion.
One of the biggest challenges for foes of Amendment 3 could be financial.Typically, Missouri ballot initiatives with well-funded and well-organized campaigns have a better chance of passing — especially if the opposition is underfunded and disorganized. Since the end of July, the campaign committee formed to pass Amendment 3 received more than $3 million in donations of $5,000 or more.That money could be used for television advertisements to improve the proposal’s standing further, Rogers said, as well as point out that Missouri’s current abortion ban doesn’t allow the procedure in the case of rape or incest.“Meanwhile, the anti side won’t have those resources to kind of try to make that counter argument as strongly, and they don’t have public opinion as strongly on their side,” Rogers said.There is precedent of a well-funded initiative almost failing due to opposition from socially conservative voters.In 2006, a measure providing constitutional protections for embryonic stem cell research nearly failed — even though a campaign committee aimed at passing it had a commanding financial advantage.Former state Sen. Bob Onder was part of the opposition campaign to that measure. He said earlier this month it is possible to create a similar dynamic in 2024 against Amendment 3, if social conservatives who oppose abortion rights can band together.“This is not about reproductive rights or care for miscarriages or IVF or anything else,” said Onder, the GOP nominee for Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District seat. “Missourians will learn that out-of-state special interests and dark money from out of state is lying to them and they will reject this amendment.”Quade said earlier this month that Missourians of all political ideologies are ready to roll back the state’s abortion ban.“Regardless of political party, we hear from folks who are tired of politicians being in their doctor’s offices,” Quade said. “They want politicians to mind their own business. So this is going to excite folks all across the political spectrum.”
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Democrat Mark Osmack makes his case for Missouri treasurer

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Mark Osmack has been out of the electoral fray for awhile, but he never completely abandoned his passion for Missouri politics.Osmack, a Valley Park native and U.S. Army veteran, previously ran for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District seat and for state Senate. Now he’s the Democratic nominee for state treasurer after receiving a phone call from Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Russ Carnahan asking him to run.“There’s a lot of decision making and processing and evaluation that goes into it, which is something I am very passionate and interested in,” Osmack said this week on an episode of Politically Speaking.Osmack is squaring off against state Treasurer Vivek Malek, who was able to easily win a crowded GOP primary against several veteran lawmakers including House Budget Chairman Cody Smith and state Sen. Andrew Koenig.While Malek was able to attract big donations to his political action committee and pour his own money into the campaign, Osmack isn’t worried that he won’t be able to compete in November. Since Malek was appointed to his post, Osmack contends he hasn’t proven that he’s a formidable opponent in a general election.“His actions and his decision making so far in his roughly two year tenure in that office have been questionable,” Osmack said.Among other things, Osmack was critical of Malek for placing unclaimed property notices on video gaming machines which are usually found in gas stations or convenience stores. The legality of the machines has been questioned for some time.As Malek explained on his own episode of Politically Speaking, he wanted to make sure the unclaimed property program was as widely advertised as possible. But he acknowledged it was a mistake to put the decals close to the machines and ultimately decided to remove them.Osmack said: “This doesn’t even pass the common sense sniff test of, ‘Hey, should I put state stickers claiming you might have a billion dollars on a gambling machine that is not registered with the state of Missouri?’ If we’re gonna give kudos for him acknowledging the wrong thing, it never should have been done in the first place.”Osmack’s platform includes supporting programs providing school meals using Missouri agriculture products and making child care more accessible for the working class.He said the fact that Missouri has such a large surplus shows that it’s possible to create programs to make child care within reach for parents.“It is quite audacious for [Republicans] to brag about $8 billion, with a B, dollars in state surplus, while we offer next to no social services to include pre-K, daycare, or child care,” Osmack said.Here’s are some other topics Osmack discussed on the show:How he would handle managing the state’s pension systems and approving low-income housing tax credits. The state treasurer’s office is on boards overseeing both of those programs.Malek’s decision to cut off investments from Chinese companies. Osmack said that Missouri needs to be cautious about abandoning China as a business partner, especially since they’re a major consumer of the state’s agriculture products. “There’s a way to make this work where we are not supporting communist nations to the detriment of the United States or our allies, while also maintaining strong economic ties that benefit Missouri farmers,” he said.What it was like to witness the skirmish at the Missouri State Fair between U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce.Whether Kunce can get the support of influential groups like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which often channels money and staff to states with competitive Senate elections.
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As Illinois receives praise for its cannabis equity efforts, stakeholders work on system’s flaws

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Medical marijuana patients can now purchase cannabis grown by small businesses as part of their allotment, Illinois’ top cannabis regulator said, but smaller, newly licensed cannabis growers are still seeking greater access to the state’s medical marijuana customers.Illinois legalized medicinal marijuana beginning in 2014, then legalized it for recreational use in 2020. While the 2020 law legalized cannabis use for any adult age 21 or older, it did not expand licensing for medical dispensaries.Patients can purchase marijuana as part of the medical cannabis program at dual-purpose dispensaries, which are licensed to serve both medical and recreational customers. But dual-purpose dispensaries are greatly outnumbered by dispensaries only licensed to sell recreationally, and there are no medical-only dispensaries in the state.As another part of the adult-use legalization law, lawmakers created a “craft grow” license category that was designed to give more opportunities to Illinoisans hoping to legally grow and sell marijuana. The smaller-scale grow operations were part of the 2020 law’s efforts to diversify the cannabis industry in Illinois.Prior to that, all cultivation centers in Illinois were large-scale operations dominated by large multi-state operators. The existing cultivators, mostly in operation since 2014, were allowed to grow recreational cannabis beginning in 2019.Until recently, dual-purpose dispensaries have been unsure as to whether craft-grown products, made by social equity licensees — those who have lived in a disproportionately impacted area or have been historically impacted by the war on drugs — can be sold medicinally as part of a patient’s medical allotment.Erin Johnson, the state’s cannabis regulation oversight officer, told Capitol News Illinois last month that her office has “been telling dispensaries, as they have been asking us” they can now sell craft-grown products to medical patients.“There was just a track and trace issue on our end, but never anything statutorily,” she said.
Dilpreet Raju
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Capitol News IllinoisThe graphic shows how cannabis grown in Illinois gets from cultivation centers to customers.
No notice has been posted, but Johnson’s verbal guidance comes almost two years after the first craft grow business went online in Illinois.It allows roughly 150,000 medical patients, who dispensary owners say are the most consistent purchasers of marijuana, to buy products made by social equity businesses without paying recreational taxes. However — even as more dispensaries open — the number available to medical patients has not increased since 2018, something the Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office “desperately” wants to see changed. Johnson said Illinois is a limited license state, meaning “there are caps on everything” to help control the relatively new market.Berwyn Thompkins, who operates two cannabis businesses, said the rules limited options for patients and small businesses.“It’s about access,” Thompkins said. “Why wouldn’t we want all the patients — which the (adult-use) program was initially built around — why wouldn’t we want them to have access? They should have access to any dispensary.”Customers with a medical marijuana card pay a 1% tax on all marijuana products, whereas recreational customers pay retail taxes between roughly 20 and 40% on a given cannabis product, when accounting for local taxes.While Illinois has received praise for its equity-focused cannabis law, including through an independent study that showed more people of color own cannabis licenses than in any other state, some industry operators say they’ve experienced many unnecessary hurdles getting their businesses up and running.The state, in fact, announced last month that it had opened its 100th social equity dispensary.But Steve Olson, purchasing manager at a pair of dispensaries (including one dual-purpose dispensary) near Rockford, said small specialty license holders have been left in the lurch since the first craft grower opened in October 2022.“You would think that this would be something they’re (the government) trying to help out these social equity companies with, but they’re putting handcuffs on them in so many different spots,” he said. “One of them being this medical thing.”Olson said he contacted state agencies, including the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, months ago about whether craft products can be sold to medical patients at their retail tax rate, but only heard one response: “They all say it was an oversight.”This potentially hurt social equity companies because they sell wholesale to dispensaries and may have been missing out on a consistent customer base through those medical dispensaries.Olson said the state’s attempts to provide licensees with a path to a successful business over the years, such as with corrective lotteries that granted more social equity licenses, have come up short.“It’s like they almost set up the social equity thing to fail so the big guys could come in and swoop up all these licenses,” Olson said. “I hate to feel like that but, if you look at it, it’s pretty black and white.”Olson said craft companies benefit from any type of retail sale.“If we sell it to medical patients or not, it’s a matter of, ‘Are we collecting the proper taxes?’ That’s all it is,” he said.State revenue from cannabis taxes, licensing costs and other fees goes into the Cannabis Regulation Fund, which is used to fund a host of programs, including cannabis offense expungement, the general revenue fund, and the R3 campaign aiming to uplift disinvested communities.For fiscal year 2024, nearly $256 million was paid out from Cannabis Regulation Fund for related initiatives, which includes almost $89 million transferred to the state’s general revenue fund and more than $20 million distributed to local governments, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.Medical access still limitedThe state’s 55 medical dispensaries that predate the 2020 legalization law, mostly owned by publicly traded multistate operators that had been operating in Illinois since 2014 under the state’s medical marijuana program, were automatically granted a right to licenses to sell recreationally in January 2020. That gave them a dual-purpose license that no new entrants into the market can receive under current law.Since expanding their clientele in 2020, Illinois dispensaries have sold more than $6 billion worth of cannabis products through recreational transactions alone.Nearly two-thirds of dispensaries licensed to sell to medical patients are in the northeast counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will. Dual-purpose dispensaries only represent about 20 percent of the state’s dispensaries.While the state began offering recreational dispensary licenses since the adult-use legalization law passed, it has not granted a new medical dispensary license since 2018. That has allowed the established players to continue to corner the market on the state’s nearly 150,000 medical marijuana patients.But social equity licensees and advocates say there are more ways to level the playing field, including expanding access to medical sales.Johnson, who became the state’s top cannabis regulator in late 2022, expressed hope for movement during the fall veto session on House Bill 2911, which would expand medical access to all Illinois dispensaries.“We would like every single dispensary in Illinois to be able to serve medical patients,” Johnson said. “It’s something that medical patients have been asking for, for years.”Johnson said the bill would benefit patients and small businesses.“It’s something we desperately want to happen as a state system, because we want to make sure that medical patients are able to easily access what they need,” she said. “We also think it’s good for our social equity dispensaries, as they’re opening, to be able to serve medical patients.”Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, who was the first statewide project coordinator for Illinois’ medical cannabis program prior to joining the legislature, wrote in an email to Capitol News Illinois that the state needs to be doing more for its patients.“Illinois is failing the state’s 150,000 medical cannabis patients with debilitating conditions. Too many are still denied the patient protections they deserve, including access to their medicine,” Morgan wrote, adding he would continue to work with stakeholders on further legislation.Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
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