Opinion ID: 1125394
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Legislative Immunity

Text: ¶ 14 The Speech or Debate Clause of the Oklahoma Constitution, Art. 5, § 22, [26] absolutely protects legislators from suit calling for judicial inquiry into their performance within the sphere of legitimate legislative activity. [27] Legislators may not be haled into court, either to account for acts that occurred in the course of legislative process or for judicial inquiry into their motivation for those acts. [28] The legislative privilege has never been limited to words spoken in debate. [29] The constitution's immunity shields all enactment-related conduct, whether a legislator [30] be sued (1) personally, (2) in an official capacity, or (3) as the Legislature's leader. [31] The line separating protected from unprotected legislative activity lies in the distinction between purely legislative activities and those that are nongermane political matters. [32]