Oklahoma inmates who believe they were wrongly convicted of a violent crime may soon have a new tool available to help prove their point.

The chorus of voices looking to stop text-messaging while driving now includes the country’s four largest cellphone companies.

T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T are getting behind a multimillion dollar ad campaign promoting AT&T’s “It Can Wait” campaign.

“Every CEO in the industry that you talk to recognizes that this is an issue that needs to be dealt with,” the head of AT&T told The Associated Press.Perhaps the message eventually will sink in with Oklahoma legislative leaders.

Several efforts this year to ban texting and driving failed. Oklahoma is one of just 11 states that haven’t outlawed texting at the wheel, which is dangerous not only to the person sending or reading messages, but to others on the road.

An Oklahoma Democrat complaining about life in the GOP-controlled Legislature? No. The remark comes from a Republican legislator in Colorado, where Democrats recently passed a bill greatly broadening voter rights.

The new law will let voters register on Election Day, allow residents to move within the state without re-registering at their new address, and create an all-mail ballot system. Not a single GOP member voted in favor.

Republicans have led efforts across the country for stricter voter rules. Colorado’s new law makes it far easier to vote. Time will tell if, as we suspect, this law has made it too easy.

For the Elmbrook School District, near Milwaukee, Wis., graduation ceremonies were a challenge because the high school gym was hot, cramped and uncomfortable. The Elmbrook Church allowed officials to hold the ceremony in the church’s large, modern and air-conditioned sanctuary.

That arrangement worked for a decade, but then nine students and parents sued, claiming the school had violated a constitutional ban on “an establishment of religion” because the sanctuary displayed a large Latin cross. The 7th Circuit Court sided with the plaintiffs; the defendants now want Supreme Court review.

Like so many church-state lawsuits, this one appears driven not by any true state establishment of religion, but by thin-skinned people who think they have a constitutional right to be protected from learning that their neighbors may hold different religious beliefs than their own.

Like others, we’ve noted that Obamacare’s insurance mandates, which kick in for employees working 30 hours or more per week, actually encourage businesses to reduce workers’ hours, making it harder for people to get ahead financially.

It turns out government workers aren’t immune from this fiscal reality.

The Wall Street Journal reports the city of Brunswick, Ohio, has instituted a 28 hours-per-week maximum for about 100 employees. The state of Virginia has started implementing a 29-hour cap for about 37,000 employees, including college adjunct faculty. And the Iowa Association of School Boards reports that some schools even considered a 29-hour weekly max for bus drivers, cooks and student learning aids.

Although Sara Redding Wilson, director of the Virginian Department of Human Resource Management, explains this trend succinctly, we suspect many liberals will still be baffled: “Some people don’t like it, and I get that, but we couldn’t afford it.”

Shelton remains steadfast, making the case for school choice in situations where parents are uncomfortable with the idea of a child’s teacher having a gun.

Shelton argues, “It is my job, not a teacher’s, to introduce guns to my children. Parents should be empowered to take their children out of any school that allows guns in the classroom.” Fair enough.

But school choice supporters reasonably argue: Why stop there? Should parents be forced to keep their children in a failing school, based solely on geographic proximity, so long as teachers don’t have weapons?

Shelton’s argument isn’t unreasonable, but it can apply to situations well beyond the “guns in school” issue.

Washington state officials are considering a proposal to shift state workers out of their current health plans and into those offered through Obamacare exchanges.

Because pay for many of those employees is low enough to qualify for federal subsidies, the shift would “save” Washington state government $120 million over two years, shifting costs to federal taxpayers instead. Other states are expected to do the same.

The plans offered through exchanges are expected to have more limited provider networks than traditional insurance, so this is hardly a boon to state workers. It’s just one more instance where Obamacare is exacerbating problems in health insurance instead of solving them, and shifting costs instead of lowering them.

This week the House rejected further efforts to crack down on texting at the wheel.

Rep. Curtis McDaniel, D-Smithville, originally introduced a texting ban bill that passed through a House committee but wasn’t heard on the floor. He later tried unsuccessfully to add the ban as an amendment to another bill.

On Tuesday, three tries by Democrats to get anti-texting language added to legislation were rejected. One would have limited the ban to places like school zones and work zones, and even that got shot down.

Speaker T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, is among those opposed to banning driving and texting, and so Oklahoma remains one of just 11 states that haven’t tried to crack down on this dangerous and omnipresent practice.

Dorman authored a similar measure in 2012 that easily passed the House (where only three lawmakers opposed it), but was then killed in the Senate on a 27-13 vote.

HB 2228 must still clear several more legislative hurdles, but this appears to be a good idea that is sadly necessary to protect children. Dorman is to be commended for continuing to work on this issue.

House Bill 1923 would create the Emergency Drought Relief Fund and an Emergency Drought Commission. After an emergency drought declaration is issued, the commission will recommend fund expenditures to the governor. That group’s members include the executive director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the executive director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.

Money placed in the fund could be used for things like pond cleanup and construction; water conservation in agriculture; providing water for livestock; rural fire suppression activities; red cedar eradication; soil conservation; emergency infrastructure conservation; and other activities.

We previously endorsed this proposal, which is simply a good management effort to prepare for potential drought challenges. Hopefully, the drought will break this summer and the fund won’t be needed.

Sadly, evidence continues to mount making clear that mistreatment of horses is far too common.

Near Wewoka, a woman has been arrested for animal abuse after officials found between 20 and 30 dead horses on her property, and another 64 that were malnourished. This is the second time Carolyn Vaughn has faced animal cruelty charges.

Ironically, Vaughn claimed she was running an animal rescue operation. “Saving” those horses from slaughter didn’t save them from either suffering or a miserable death.

Horse slaughter may not be ideal, but was Vaughn’s horse rescue mission really any better?

Kirby suggested the company could receive Oklahoma Quality Jobs Act incentives and a five-year property tax exemption for manufacturers, and noted recent lawsuit reforms and potential workers’ compensation reforms could make Oklahoma an ideal place for the business.

Many dismissed the invite as a stunt, but maybe Kirby was on to something.

A manufacturer of Colt rifles is now moving to Breckenridge, Texas. The CEO of Colt Manufacturing in Connecticut has suggested the company may relocate after passage of extremely restrictive gun laws. And Texas Gov. Rick Perry has reportedly sent letters to several gun companies, encouraging relocation to Texas.

If that approach is succeeding in Texas, local officials may soon ask, “Why not in Oklahoma?”

In fact, many establishments selling beer and liquor now card everyone who enters — and we do mean everyone.

Blockheads, a Manhattan bar recently noted in The Wall Street Journal, has a zero-tolerance ID policy. Senior citizens buying a drink have to show ID, just like a 21-year-old. A bartender at High West Distillery in Salt Lake City’s airport once carded a 96-year-old customer.

If retirees are able to survive an ID requirement to ensure the legality of beer purchases, why should anyone object to ensuring the validity of the voting process?

Senate Bill 691 would prevent uninsured drivers from receiving any monetary damages after auto accidents. The bill passed the Senate 31-9 and just passed a House committee on a 10-6 vote.

State Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, said the idea behind the bill is simple: “If you’re not participating in the system that you’re required to by law, then you shouldn’t benefit from it.”

A 2011 report from the Insurance Research Council says about 24 percent of Oklahoma’s drivers were uninsured in 2009, the latest year of data. Yet those drivers can file claims on others’ insurance, even as their own actions drive up the cost of others’ insurance.

That’s why we suspect most Oklahomans will like this bill. Maybe this will be the year it finally becomes law.

A murder charge may or may not slow the track career of South African double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius.

Pistorius is accused of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day. He says he thought he was shooting at a home intruder when he fired several rounds into a bathroom door.

This week a judge in Pretoria said that if Pistorius needs to leave the country to compete, he can do so (with some conditions).

His attorneys argued that Pistorius needs to compete in order to earn a living. A 2012 Olympian, Pistorius is a hero in South Africa. As the judge’s ruling shows, he enjoys all the benefits that accompany fame and fortune.

In Colorado, the legislature is weighing a bill that would prevent farmers from “docking” — cutting the tails of their cattle. The bill would only let veterinarians perform the procedure, using anesthesia. Debate over the measure raged for hours in a House committee.

Why should unclassified state employees have to resign in order to run for public office? They shouldn’t, and a bill by state Rep. Donnie Condit would change the law that now requires them to do so.

House Bill 1238 is headed to the Senate after winning easy approval this week in the House.

The current law “is especially hard on candidates who are not elected, but are now out of a job,” said Condit, D-McAlester. He said the fact current law takes effect at the time of filing instead of at the time of election was probably an oversight by a previous Legislature.

Perhaps, but it’s about time the change is made. Provided state employees who want to run for office don’t conduct their campaigns while at work, there is no compelling reason not to change the law.

Let’s hear it for Milton Tingling.

Tingling, a justice on the New York Supreme Court, struck down New York City’s proposed ban on large soft drinks. The idea was proposed last year by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and approved by the city’s health board. It was to take effect this week, but Tingling said uh-uh.

Among other things, he said in his ruling Monday that the ban on drinks larger than 16 ounces was arbitrary in that it only applied to some sugary drinks and some places that sell them. “The loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of this rule,” said Tingling, a Democrat elected to his post in 2001.

Bloomberg proposed the ban as a way to cut down on obesity, and he vows to appeal. “One of the cases we will make,” he declared, “is that people are dying every day.” And only an expansion of the nanny state can prevent that, it seems.