Nelson S. Corn

N. S. Corn, also known as Nelson S. Corn or Nelson Smith Corn, (1884–1967) was a justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court who was one of the central figures of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Scandal that occurred during the mid-1960s. He was accused of income tax evasion, impeached, tried, convicted, and sentenced to a prison term. During his imprisonment, he prepared a document confessing to his crimes and also provided evidence that led to the resignation or impeachment of additional justices for financial crimes while serving on the court, as well as causing the Oklahoma Legislature to reform the selection of Supreme Court justices.

Parental family Corn was born March 25, 1884, in Talequah, Oklahoma, which was then known as Talequah, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, to Columbus Franklin Corn and Camelia Jane (née Little) Corn. He was the fifth of seven children in the family.

Early history Corn served as an associate justice for 24 years, from 1934 to 1959, then an additional five years as a supernumerary justice. He attended Southwestern State College at Weatherford, Oklahoma, where he earned a teaching certificate that permitted him to teach school for eight years. He claimed that he had studied law at home after he was elected clerk of Dewey County, Oklahoma, in 1918. Although he failed the bar exam the first time he attempted it, he passed the next time he took it.

Corn was elected Dewey County Attorney, where he served after four years. He later admitted that his resignation was because of "...a little dissatisfaction over a murder case." He did not elaborate on the particulars.

Corn changed his plea from "not guilty" to "nolo contendere" after U.S. Attorney A. B. Potter announced in court that he had a witness that could testify that Corn was involved in a $150,000 payoff from an unnamed corporation in 1957. Judge Harper also gave the former justice an 18-month sentence in jail.

Corn's early release from prison While serving his 18-month sentence in the Springfield, Missouri federal prison, Corn decided to prepare an affidavit detailing his involvement in the bribery and income tax evasion schemes. After completing the document, he gave it to the government on December 9, 1964. (For health reasons, Corn was released early from prison ten days after turning over the document.)

Nelson S. Corn died November 8, 1967. He was buried in the family plot at Rose Hill Burial Park in Oklahoma City.