Editorial Comment: It is not, in fact, over the word "butt." This PoonOut has everything: claims of transphobia, repeatedly interrupting a judge, admitting to being held in contempt prior, throwing her phone in a huff, "I CAN'T BREATHE!" punctuated by the heaviest breathing you've ever heard, pleas for someone to call 911, and even demanding a female officer.
Article (Archive)
NORMAN, Okla. (The Oklahoma Post) February 5, 2026
An Oklahoma attorney was jailed for contempt today in Pontotoc County after his client, who is currently in hiding in another state with a protective order case pending in Oklahoma County, failed to appear for a hearing in a separate custody matter.
Rob Hopkins, attorney for Julie Ann Kramer, was taken into custody by order of Judge Laurie Jackson during a hearing in Ada, Oklahoma. According to sources familiar with the case, Hopkins was initially threatened with arrest for saying the word “butt” while quoting a bailiff who had instructed him to “get your butt down here” when Hopkins called that morning to arrange remote appearance.
Rob Hopkins and the Great Pontotoc County “Butt” Incident
Rob B. Hopkins (Bridges-Castro) is an accomplished civil rights attorney who speaks two languages fluently, holds a Juris Doctor from Oklahoma City University School of Law where he served as President of not one but three student organizations, interned with the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office trying jury trials, volunteers with Catholic Charities helping Central American children at the border, advocates for LGBT equality, and has dedicated his entire legal career to fighting for marginalized communities.
On February 5, 2026, he was thrown in jail in Ada, Oklahoma for saying the word “butt.”
To be precise, he was jailed for quoting the word “butt” that a bailiff had said to him earlier that morning when instructing him to “get your butt down here” to Pontotoc County, a place that, in the courtroom at least, makes the fictional Beechum County, Alabama from My Cousin Vinny look like downtown Manhattan.
A bilingual immigration attorney with a background in Feminist Studies and Chicano/a Studies, who runs in his spare time and volunteers with Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, stands before Judge Laurie Jackson in rural Ada explaining that he’s simply repeating what court staff told him. The judge, apparently unfamiliar with the concept of quotation marks, threatens him with incarceration for “language.” Hopkins is then arrested.
Word on the street is that he called his law office that morning and arranged for someone to pick his kids, because nothing says Oklahoma is family friendly, quite like coordinating childcare under duress, from a county lockup while your client is in a safe house and the opposing party is allegedly funding litigation in two counties simultaneously.
Hopkins, who has accumulated “countless hours in the courtroom” according to his professional biography, presumably did not envision those hours would include time as an inmate. He is a member of the Young Lawyers Division of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the OBA Law Day Committee, the OBA Diversity Committee, the OBA Women in Law Committee, and the Oklahoma County Bar Association. One wonders if any of these committees have a “What To Do When Jailed For Saying ‘Butt’ In Pontotoc County” subcommittee.
The irony is almost too perfect: An attorney who has dedicated his career to fighting for people the system marginalizes became, for at least a few hours, exactly that kind of person himself.
As of this writing, Hopkins has NOT BEEN released. He was held on a $25,000 bond. His two children, his spouse, and presumably his dogs are all accounted for. His client remains in Texas, where law enforcement declined to enforce an Oklahoma custody order they determined was improperly issued. And somewhere in Oklahoma County, Judge James M. Siderias continues to preside over his cases, apparently unaware that the attorney who was arguing one of those cases spent part of today contemplating the interior design choices of the Pontotoc County Jail.
Welcome to Oklahoma family court…insert joke here. Really.
The incident is the latest development in what court records and interviews reveal as a pattern of judicial irregularities across multiple domestic violence custody cases in Oklahoma County, where contradictory orders, statutory violations, and process failures have left children at risk regardless of which parent is telling the truth.
Three Cases, One Judge, Multiple Questions
Special Judge James M. Siderias has presided over at least three high-profile domestic violence custody cases in Oklahoma County where protective orders were filed, extensive allegations were made, and outcomes have ranged from contradictory to tragic.
In one case, a 4-year-old child died. In another, an eight-year custody battle ended with simultaneous findings of no domestic violence and suspended visitation pending completion of therapy. In a third, a mother fled to Texas on Christmas Day with infant twins, prompting a Supreme Court emergency petition now pending before Oklahoma’s highest court.
The complexity is this: In the case where the child died, the mother who filed the protective order now faces murder charges. In the case with contradictory orders, the mother presents extensive documentation of abuse that led to visitation suspension and evaluations. In the case now before the Supreme Court, competing narratives about sexual assault, death threats, and grand larceny remain unresolved.
The common thread is not bias toward one parent or another. It is a broken process that fails to distinguish real danger from false allegations while violating statutory requirements designed to protect both children and due process rights.
The Gupta Tragedy
Dr. Neha Gupta, a 36-year-old Oklahoma City pediatrician, filed for divorce from Dr. Saurabh Talathi in Oklahoma County in July 2022. The case was initially assigned to Judge Martha Oakes but transferred to Judge Siderias by March 2023.
On July 20, 2022, Dr. Gupta filed a protective order (PO-2022-1992) naming herself and her 4-year-old daughter Aria as victims. Court records show a contentious case with mutual contempt charges filed against both parents in spring 2023.
According to court filings, Dr. Gupta alleged physical abuse and raised concerns about overnight visitation. Dr. Talathi alleged interference with his parenting time and filed motions claiming the mother was preventing proper custody exchanges that required police presence.
In May 2023, Judge Siderias ordered both parents to undergo psychological evaluations and established an extensive visitation schedule that included overnight visits for the father. The divorce was finalized in January 2024.
Eight months later, on September 10, 2024, the father filed an emergency motion for custody. Judge Siderias ordered Dr. Gupta to surrender her passport. Four days later, on September 14, 2024, Judge Siderias denied the emergency custody motion, finding that the father had not demonstrated the child was “in surroundings that endanger the safety of the child” and concluding “there is no concern by the Court that the child will be subject to irreparable harm.”
Nine months later, on June 27, 2025, Aria Talathi was found dead in a Florida pool during Dr. Gupta’s visitation. An autopsy revealed no water in the child’s lungs. Medical examiners concluded the injuries were consistent with smothering, not drowning. Dr. Gupta was arrested and is now charged with second-degree murder. Her case remains pending.
The outcome suggests Judge Siderias may have been correct to be skeptical of the mother’s protective order allegations. Yet questions remain about whether the process itself, including the extended overnight visitation schedule and the denial of the emergency motion, adequately protected the child.
Following Aria Talathi’s death in June 2025, questions have emerged about transparency in cases where children die during contested custody proceedings. While the Gupta divorce case was closed in following finalization of the divorce, and Dr. Gupta now faces criminal charges in Florida, the Oklahoma County custody proceedings that preceded the tragedy remain part of the public record. The case was transferred from Judge Martha Oakes to Judge James M. Siderias in March 2023, approximately 16 months before Aria’s death.
The Rachel Day Contradictions
Rachel Day’s case against Blake Day (Case No. FD-2017-2272) presents a different concern: not whether the allegations are true or false, but whether the court’s orders are internally coherent.
The eight-year custody battle concluded on July 9, 2025, when Judge Siderias granted joint custody while simultaneously finding the court “DOES NOT FINDS THE EXISTENCE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SOLELY ON THE PART OF RESPONDENT,” according to court minutes.
Yet more than a year earlier, on June 25, 2024, Judge Siderias had suspended Blake Day’s visitation following an emergency hearing. Court minutes state: “RESPONDENT’S VISITATION IS SUSPENDED PENDING EXAM.”
On August 8, 2024, the court ordered the appointment of an evaluator. Rachel Day describes this as a psychosexual evaluation, though specific details of the evaluation are not part of the public record.
The July 9, 2025 final order granted joint custody but ordered Blake Day to complete sleep therapy before pursuing reunification therapy with the children. The children were ordered to continue their own therapy. Blake Day has not had visitation with the children since June 2024.
The contradictions are stark: If no domestic violence existed sufficient to deny custody, why was visitation suspended for over a year? If concerns were serious enough to order evaluations and therapy before any parental contact, how could joint custody be appropriate? If joint custody was appropriate, why does visitation remain suspended?
In an interview with The Oklahoma Post, a source alleges day provided extensive evidence including videos, medical records, and documentation from multiple professionals.
The Oklahoma Post has not independently verified these specific claims. Court records confirm evaluations were ordered and that requirements must be met before reunification can proceed. Reunification proceeded.
Rachel’s protective order petition, filed December 23, 2024, was pending for 379 days before the custody trial concluded. Under Oklahoma statute 22 O.S. § 60.4(B)(1), a full hearing on a protective order must be held within fourteen days of filing. The 379-day delay represents 27 times longer than the statutory requirement.
The Kramer Case and Today’s Arrest
Julie Ann Kramer’s case has now reached the Oklahoma Supreme Court in an emergency petition filed December 22, 2025, seeking a writ of prohibition against Judge Siderias.
Kramer, a former University of Oklahoma gymnast and Big 12 champion, alleges she was sexually assaulted while unconscious during what she believed was a therapeutic massage session in January 2024. She maintains the assault resulted in a pregnancy with twins, born in September 2024.
On December 23, 2024, Kramer filed for a victim’s protective order in Oklahoma County against Ferris Weston Howland, seeking protection for herself and the infant twins. The petition landed on the docket of Judge Sara Murphy Bondurant.
According to Kramer’s Supreme Court filing, Judge Bondurant violated Oklahoma statute 22 O.S. § 60.2(F) by ordering Kramer to file a paternity case as a condition of having the protective order heard. The statute explicitly prohibits courts from requiring victims to seek other legal sanctions before hearing a protective order petition.
Kramer filed the paternity case on March 11, 2025, and the case was transferred to Judge Siderias by May 2025. On December 19, 2025, Judge Siderias awarded sole custody of the twins to Howland without an evidentiary hearing, without notice, and while the protective order remained pending after nearly a year of continuances.
On December 25, 2025, Kramer relocated temporarily to Texas and filed an affidavit of domestic violence in Texas. On December 26, 2025, law enforcement arrived at her location with an Oklahoma custody order. Texas authorities reviewed the order, consulted with superiors, and refused to enforce it, determining it was unenforceable in Texas. The judge dismissed her VPO. Issued a bench warrant for her.
Today’s arrest of Kramer’s attorney occurred during a hearing in Pontotoc County involving a separate custody matter related to Kramer’s older child from a previous relationship. According to sources, the hearing was scheduled with assurances that remote appearance would be available. When Hopkins called that morning to arrange remote participation, court staff instructed him to travel to Ada immediately.
Hopkins was threatened with contempt after he quoted the bailiff’s instruction to “get your butt down here.” He was subsequently jailed when Kramer, who is in a protective location out of state, did not physically appear. Another ambush by state actors.
Oklahoma’s Statutory Framework
Oklahoma, like most states, has laws. These laws contain words like “shall” and “must,” which in normal English mean “you have to do this thing.” In legal English, they apparently mean “strongly consider doing this thing if you feel like it and the mood strikes you.”
Title 22, Section 60.2 states: A court may not require the victim to seek legal sanctions against the defendant including, but not limited to, divorce, separation, paternity or criminal proceedings prior to hearing a petition for protective order.
The word “may not” appears to be causing some confusion. Let’s clarify: “May not” means “is prohibited from doing.” It does not mean “probably shouldn’t but could if circumstances warrant.” It certainly doesn’t mean “go ahead and require a paternity filing and we’ll deal with your protective order whenever.”
Title 22, Section 60.4 requires: A full hearing on a protective order petition must be held within fourteen days of filing. This is so both sides get a fair chance to present Real Evidence. Not just hearsay or what may be provided by a drugged out, oddball. Everyone gets to know; no backroom trials in which even the alleged and accusers are not fully informed.
Rachel Day’s protective order waited 379 days. That’s 27 times longer than the statute requires, which is the legal equivalent of your dentist saying “I’ll see you in six months” and then not calling you back for 13 and a half years.
Note the word “mandates.” This is different from “suggests” or “might want to think about” or “consider if you’re not too busy.”
When domestic violence is established by a preponderance of evidence, including Parental Alienation, Obstruction, Child Withholding, Oklahoma law creates a rebuttable presumption that it is not in the child’s best interest for the abusive parent to have custody, guardianship, or unsupervised visitation. The words don’t match the actions; the food is not what anyone ordered, but you’re still expected to pay the bill.
The Possible Task
Family court judges face an extraordinarily difficult task: Some domestic violence allegations are true. Some are strategically fabricated to gain advantage in custody battles. You usually see that argument made by the best of attorneys. Some fall into grey areas where mutual conflict escalates into violence by both parties. We saw that in the Oklahoma Panhandle; we saw this in the Chad Reed case in Texas. We saw this in Shawnee Oklahoma…..The GUPTA CASE.
The Gupta case illustrates this complexity. A mother filed a protective order, underwent psychological evaluation, and followed court orders. She was a Medical Doctor. She also now faces murder charges. A judge who had been skeptical of her allegations might have been correct in that skepticism. Yet a child still died. A dad, his extended family, is left heartbroken. He was ignored; he was gaslit.
The challenge is distinguishing real danger from false allegations within a system designed to err on the side of child safety while also protecting constitutional due process rights for both parents.
What cannot be defended is a process that:
Delays protective order hearings for 379 days when statute requires 14 days
Issues contradictory orders that grant custody while suspending all visitation
Forces protective order petitioners to file separate paternity cases before their safety claims are heard
Results in attorneys being jailed for quoting court staff
These process failures harm everyone: Children whose protective parents are telling the truth face continued danger. Parents who are falsely accused face prolonged separation from their children. Children whose accusing parents are actually the danger face placement with a parent addicted to drugs and alcohol. Parents who are legitimately co-parenting face interference based on unproven allegations.
Broader Implications
The Oklahoma Post has reviewed court records in multiple cases and spoken with several parents who describe similar experiences in Judge Siderias’ courtroom: protective orders delayed beyond statutory requirements, contradictory orders issued without explanation, and custody decisions that appear to have been made by throwing darts at a flowchart.
Some of these parents may be telling the truth. Some may be fabricating or exaggerating. The point is that the process should be capable of distinguishing between the two, and it should do so within the timeframes and procedures established by Oklahoma statute.
When a protective order hearing is delayed 27 times longer than the law allows, the delay doesn’t help anyone:
If the allegations are true, the victim remains in danger for an additional year
If the allegations are false, the accused remains under suspicion for an additional year
If the truth is somewhere in the middle, everyone remains in limbo for an additional year
Nobody wins. The children don’t win. The truthful parent doesn’t win. The falsely accused parent doesn’t win. The only winner is the legal system’s ability to generate billable hours.
When a judge suspends visitation, orders evaluations, and then grants joint custody while keeping visitation suspended, it’s like a doctor saying “You’re perfectly healthy, but also you need emergency surgery, but also you can go home, but also don’t leave the hospital.” Pick a diagnosis. We will fit it into future arguments about fitness. Commit to a treatment plan. Don’t do all of them at once and hope it works out.
And when an attorney gets jailed for saying “butt” while his client hides in another state because an Oklahoma County judge awarded custody of infant twins to a man she alleges raped and impregnated her during a massage, is highly connected, maybe and I’m just spit balling here, the system has lost the plot.
Moving Forward
Rachel Day’s children remain in her primary custody under the joint custody arrangement, with Blake Day required to complete sleep therapy before filing for reunification therapy. The children are ordered to continue their own therapy. Blake Day has not had visitation since June 2024, which is either appropriate given ongoing safety concerns or inappropriate given the court’s finding of no domestic violence. The court has not clarified which.
Day’s attorney has stated that the allegations against Mr. Day were unfounded and he looks forward to rebuilding his life and coparenting.
Dr. Neha Gupta’s criminal case proceeds in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Her daughter Aria is dead. The Oklahoma County custody proceedings that led to the visitation schedule that led to the Florida trip that led to the child’s death remain public record, a monument to the question: Could this have been prevented?
This is not a story about believing or disbelieving any particular parent. It is a story about a process that appears incapable of reliably determining the truth, protecting children, or following its own statutory requirements. If the State “CHEATS ” along the way, then the citizens, the officials we elect to uphold the law, WE must hold those people accountable.
When the process fails, children die. When the process fails, innocent parents lose custody. When the process fails, abusive parents maintain access. When the process fails, everyone suffers except the people billing by the hour.
The question before the Oklahoma Supreme Court in Kramer’s case, and the question before Oklahoma’s judiciary more broadly, is whether this is acceptable.
The question before Judge Laurie Jackson in Pontotoc County is whether “butt” is really the hill worth dying on.
And the question before Judge Siderias is whether any of these outcomes a dead child, contradictory orders, a Supreme Court petition, and an attorney in jail suggest that maybe, just maybe, something about the process needs to change.
Writing By: Robbie Robertson | Editing by Robbie Robertson
Editor’s Note: The Oklahoma Post attempted to contact Judge Siderias’ chambers, Judge Laurie Jackson’s office, and attorneys for Blake Day and Ferris Weston Howland for comment but did not receive responses prior to publication. This article will be updated if responses are received. We also attempted to contact the attorney arrested, since we had not been able to reach the attorney before or after arrest. Updates: 02/09/2026 Hopkins contacts Oklahoma Post. States he is out of jail. First time we have spoken.
The Oklahoma Post’s editor has disclosed that he is a plaintiff in federal civil rights litigation stemming from family court proceedings in Oklahoma. All reporting in this article is based on verified court records, public documents, and on-the-record interviews.
Case Numbers: Rachel Day v. Blake Day (FD-2017-2272), Talathi v. Gupta (FD-2022-2080), Kramer v. Howland (FP-2025-311), Oklahoma Supreme Court emergency petition (pending)
Case No. FD-2017-2272 (Day v. Day)
Case No. FD-2022-2080 (Talathi v. Gupta)
Judge: James M. Siderias
Oklahoma County District Court
