Steven W. Taylor
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Steven W. Taylor, (born June 7, 1949), is a Justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
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[edit] Early life
Steven Taylor was born in Henryetta, Oklahoma. During his high school years at McAlester High School in McAlester, Oklahoma, he served as a student body president and as member of the speech and debate team, and the state and national honor societies. He earned a B.A. in political science from Oklahoma State University, and a J.D. from the University of Oklahoma. While a student at OSU, he was actively involved in student government and honor society and was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
[edit] Career
From 1970 to 1978, he served in the United States Marine Corps. During his military career, he served as a prosecutor, defense counsel, and ultimately as a Special Court Martial Judge. He became the youngest judge in the U.S. armed forces at the age of 26. He was promoted to the rank of Major. The same year he was a discharged from the Marines, he married Mary E. B. Taylor, a public school teacher. The couple has one son, Wilson Harmon Taylor, who is a graduate student at Oklahoma State University. Following a two-year stint on the McAlester City Council, he served as mayor from 1982 to 1984, and was the youngest mayor in the city's history. In 1983 he was named one of the "Three Outstanding Young Oklahomans. In 1985, the City of McAlester named its new industrial park the "Steven W. Taylor Industrial Park" in recognition of his economic development efforts as Mayor. In recent years, Justice Taylor has been recognized as "Citizen of the Year" in McAlester. He was granted the "Award of Judicial Excellence" by the Oklahoma Bar Association in 2003. In 2004, Oklahoma State University named him a "Leadership Legacy" and a "Distinguished Graduate". He was inducted into the Oklahoma State University Hall of Fame in 2007. Justice Taylor is Vice-Chairman of the Oklahoma Heritage Association. He is a Director of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
[edit] Judicial career
He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma by Governor Brad Henry, in September, 2004 and was retained on the Supreme Court by the citizens in a statewide vote in the November, 2006 general election. From 1984 to 1994 he served as Associate District Judge in the 18th Judicial District. In 1991 he was the first Associate District Judge ever to be elected President of the Oklahoma Judicial Conference. From 1994 to 2004, he served as Chief Judge of the 18th Judicial District, which encompasses Pittsburg and McIntosh Counties. In his over 20 years as a trial judge, he presided over more than 500 jury trials, including numerous murder trials. Most notably, he presided over the state murder trial of Oklahoma City bombing suspect Terry Nichols, following a change of venue from Oklahoma County.
