CHIEF PUBLIC DEFENDER

Education

Bob Ravitz is a 1976 graduate of the Oklahoma City University School of Law, and he currently serves as Public Defender of Oklahoma County, a position he assumed in 1987. Mr. Ravitz is also an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City University School of Law, teaching in the areas of trial practice, capital litigation, and criminal procedure.

Awards & Recognition

In 1996, Mr. Ravitz was the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association recipient of the Clarence Darrow Award as Oklahoma’s outstanding criminal defense lawyer. Ravitz successfully argued Cooper v. Oklahoma before the United States Supreme Court, where the Court unanimously concluded the Oklahoma standard for determining competency to stand trial was unconstitutional.

Ravitz has also received the Angie Debo Civil Liberties Award for significant contributions to civil liberties in 1985. In 2001, he was the recipient of the Oklahoma Bar Association, Association of Black Lawyers Diversity Award and the 2006 Oklahoma County Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association Barry Albert Award. In 2008, he was a recipient of the Journal Record Leadership in Law Award and in 2010 he received the Oklahoma City University Law School Distinguished Alumni Award. Ravitz was recently presented with the Opio Toure Champion of Justice Award by the Oklahoma City Association of Black Lawyers.

Memberships & Service

Mr. Ravitz is a former member of the Oklahoma Sentencing Commission and Oklahoma Board of Juvenile Affairs and currently sits on the Uniform Jury Instruction Committee. Mr. Ravitz previously served as president of the OCU Law Alumni Association, the Metro Alliance for Safer Cities, and the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association. He was a Barrister of the American Inn of Court XIII from 1990 to 1993 and is currently a Master in the William J. Holloway Inn of Court.

Ravitz currently serves on the Board of Oklahoma Lawyers for Children, the Oklahoma County Drug Court, Community Sentencing and Court Services Boards. He has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Board of Juvenile Affairs, Legal Aid of Western Oklahoma, the Oklahoma County Bar Association, and the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association.

Public Speaking

Mr. Ravitz has lectured at numerous state and national seminars including those put on by the Oklahoma Bar Association, the National Judicial Conference, the Oklahoma Judicial Conference, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Virginia Coalition Against the Death Penalty, and the Oklahoma and Tulsa County Bar Associations. He has lectured at 4 Absolute Criminal Litigators Conferences in Las Vegas. He and his wife, Diane, have 2 daughters.