Walters’ shenanigans are shameful. His indifference to the Oklahoma Constitution’s strict church-state separation invites lawsuits that squander precious taxpayer dollars better devoted to lifting Sooner schools out of the nation’s bottom five.

If, however, there’s a silver lining to Walters’ impudence, it comes from the fact the state’s highest court was given the opportunity to demonstrate it is working as intended – independent umpires, calling legal balls and strikes. Period.

That is something many Oklahomans take for granted. They should not.

Why? Because while some in Walters’ world squeal about woke, liberal jurists blocking God from Oklahoma classrooms, legislative leaders are taking direct aim at the Supreme Court’s independence. They want to turn it into a wholly-owned subsidiary of two of the state’s political powers: corporate elites and religious fundamentalists.

Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton’s SJR 6 would ask voters to abolish the independent, non-partisan Judicial Nominating Commission which vets candidates for open Supreme Court seats, then sends the governor three finalists from which to choose a nominee.

The system was established in 1967 after three Supreme Court justices were accused of accepting bribes over two decades in exchange for favorable rulings.

There hasn’t been a whiff a scandal since, yet the Republican statehouse supermajority – rankled by some high court decisions – has plotted for more than a decade to enact a system that elevates ideology over the rule of law.

Earlier this month, Paxton’s proposal sailed through the Senate Rules Committee – 16 Republicans in favor, two Democrats – Sens. Mary Boren of Norman and Carri Hicks of Oklahoma City – and Republican Darcy Jech of Kingfisher against.

If you love the politicization of the U.S. Supreme Court, you’ll love SJR 6. If it reaches the ballot, and voters give their approval, it would create a DC-style system in which the governor selects members of the state’s appellate courts, subject to Senate confirmation.

“It’s time,” Paxton declared, “to shift toward a process where elected officials, who are accountable to the voters, are directly involved in the selection of judges.

“With the Senate’s role in confirming judges, Oklahomans will have a better understanding of who is being appointed and how decisions are made.”

Not exactly. Governors wouldn’t be governors if they hadn’t played the political game well, winning over big donors and powerful interest groups. Imagine the behind-the-scenes horse-trading over nominees to the Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals and Court of Civil Appeals.

The public may never know what deals were cut. But it would have to live with the consequences.