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Opioid Trial Judge Bow Wow Wow Yippie Yo Yippie Yayed with Snoop Dogg…

10:30 AM EDT on August 8, 2019

Yesterday afternoon, an Ogle Mole emailed us a couple of pics of judge Thad Balkman getting all funkadelic with Snoop Dogg.

Snoop is one of my favorite rappers, and Thad Balkman – a former Oklahoma lawmaker – is one of the favorite judges of the Oklahoma ruling class. Not only is he doing everything possible to make sure the state wins a record settlement in its signed, sealed and delivered trial against Johnson & Johnson, but he also helped OU block release of the Joe Mixon sucker punch video for as long as legally possible. Basically, he has a long and luxurious career ahead of him.

In addition to the photo, the Mole included this autograph that Snoop sent to the judge:

That's cool. If I was kicking it with Snoop, I'd ask him to sign my G-pen. That would make up for it breaking after two weeks.

So, why exactly was an Oklahoma judge hounding Snoop Dogg for photos and autographs? Fortunately, our Mole also emailed The Oklahoman, so they were able to get all the details.

Via a Randy Ellis article in The Oklahoman:

People who think Oklahoma’s opioid trial judge is all business might want to ask him about last Saturday night.

Judge Thad Balkman spent the night partying with Snoop Dogg until 2 a.m.

“I was way out of my element,” said Balkman, a Cleveland County district judge. “We didn’t get out of the nightclub until 2 a.m. ... It was really loud. My ears were ringing. My throat was hoarse. My feet were tired. It was not something I normally do, but I wasn’t going to miss that.”

Snoop Dogg and Balkman were high school classmates, the judge quickly explained.

Saturday marked their 30-year high school class reunion.

Yeah, even if I were a boring judge from Norman doing the work of the Oklahoma ruling class, I'd find the time to make that show...and smoke a bowl with Snoop. Sadly, I don't think I'll ever get to experience that. The most famous alums of my graduating class are me and former MLB pitcher Brian Tallet. That means our 30-year will probably feature a softball game and me roasting the popular kids. That being said, we could still probably book Color Me Badd to perform...

The Belasco nightclub in downtown Los Angeles provided the venue, and Snoop Dogg and his friends provided the entertainment.

Joining Snoop Dogg in performing were the band Color Me Badd, rapper-beatboxer Doug E. Fresh, and popular ‘80s and ‘90s British-American rapper Slick Rick, the judge said.

I was going to write a riff on Color Me Badd being forced into the high school reunion circuit, but Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick were there with Snoop!? Ah, tick tock, ya don't stop?!! Does that mean they performed Lodi Dodi together? I'm so jealous I want to cry and dry my eye! Can we get Randy Ellis to call Judge Balkman and confirm?

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