Kansas Supreme Court Archives - Page 10 of 12 Voice For Liberty

May

Limits of government and rights of people to be addressed in Wichita

This Friday (May 7) Sarah McIntosh will address members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club. Ms. McIntosh's presentation, titled "Make No Law," will discuss the constitutional powers and limits of the federal government, versus the rights of the people, with a particular focus on the interaction of rights and powers in the health care law and the upcoming right to bear arms Supreme Court case. All are welcome to attend Pachyderm club meetings. The program costs $10, which includes a delicious buffet lunch including salad, soup, two main dishes, and ice tea and coffee. The meeting starts at noon,…

Dec

By Bob Weeks

Corkins testifies on school finance history, recommendations

Topeka, Kansas -- In testimony Monday before an interim session of the Kansas House Appropriations Committee, former Kansas Education Commissioner Bob Corkins supplied insight into Kansas school funding court decisions, and made some recommendations for the future. In its ruling in the Montoy case (the 2005 case that ordered the Kansas Legislature to increase school spending), the Kansas Supreme Court said very little about efficient spending, according to Corkins. The original trial judge addressed this issue in a preliminary order, saying that if schools funds are "squandered," resulting in Kansas schoolchildren not receiving the suitable education the Kansas Constitution guarantees,…

Sep

By Bob Weeks

Kansas is at the undemocratic extreme in judicial selection

Kansas University law professor Stephen J. Ware has extensively researched and written on the method of judicial selection in the United States. His recent paper The Bar’s Extraordinarily Powerful Role in Selecting the Kansas Supreme Court again lets us know that in Kansas, a select group of lawyers has tremendous control over the nominating process. It's a process that desperately needs reform, despite the effort that Kansas lawyers spend defending their elite privileges and powers in this regard. The first part of the paper is captioned "Kansas is extreme -- no other state gives the bar as much power." In…

Aug

By Bob Weeks

Kansas judicial selection needs examination, reform

The upcoming retention election for Kansas Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier provides an opportunity to examine the judicial selection process in Kansas. In the Kansas Liberty news report Republicans won't campaign against Justice Beier in 2010, University of Kansas School of Law professor Stephen Ware explains the perverse dynamics of Kansas judicial retention elections: "With no opposing candidate, there's no one with an incentive to raise money for a challenge and to advocate change," Ware said. "So voters don't see the sort of discussion of the issues that would spark an interest in the judiciary. This lack of interest by…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Audit report reveals important questions

By John LaPlante, Flint Hills Center for Public Policy. Do some school districts spend your dollars more efficiently than others, and if so, how can the others catch up? An auditing office in Kansas state government started to look at these questions. But what it did not ask -- and in some cases, was not allowed to ask -- is just as interesting, if not troubling. After being ordered by the Kansas Supreme Court to send more state aid to schools, the Legislature started ramping it up. It started with $145 million for the 2005-06 school year. It also created…

Mar

By Bob Weeks

Articles of Interest

Charity, Kansas legal intrigue, Kansas infant mortality rate rises under Sebelius, taxing it all, bailouts not wanted, cap-and-trade costs, school choice saves. The Charity Revolt: Liberals oppose a tax hike on rich donors (Wall Street Journal) true-blue liberals who run most of America's nonprofits, universities and charities" are worried that Obama's plan to limit deductions for charitable contributions will cost them. This article introduces a term I saw for the first time: "New Charity State," and it is a real danger. "Mr. Orszag [White House budget chief Peter] revealed the real agenda at work when he pointed out that the…

Mar

By Bob Weeks

Articles of Interest

Budget woes linked to how justices are chosen (Kris W. Kobach in the Wichita Eagle). Explains how with a better method of selecting Kansas state Supreme Court justices, the Kansas budget might not be in such a mess. "The Montoy decision represented a court determined to advance judicial power and the liberal policy of limitless spending on education. Which brings us back to the current fiscal crisis. The reckless decision of the court in Montoy is taking its toll. Kansas' current budget crisis is largely due to the extraordinary increases in spending ordered by the court." Pitchfork Time (Human Events).…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Kansas Justice Selection

Some commentary from Americans For Prosperity -- Kansas about a bill that would change the way Kansas chooses its justices: Lawyers are soooo smart. More coverage of this issue: Kansas Must Change Its Judicial Selection Method Kansas has the appearance, without the reality, of judicial accountability What Impact do Kansas Voters Have on Judges? Here’s Why Kansans Need to Take Control

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Kansas has the appearance, without the reality, of judicial accountability

Friday's Wichita Eagle contained an op-ed by a University of Kansas law professor that discussed the method of selecting supreme court justices in Kansas. (Stephen J. Ware: Open up Process of Picking Judges, January 23, 2009) A Kansas blogger (The Kansas Jackass) noticed this piece and attempted to take Prof. Ware to task. But it seems like the Jackass is unable to grasp the meaning of one of Prof. Ware's central points: that in a judicial retention election, there is no opposition candidate. Equating judicial retention elections with contested races for, say, a seat in the legislature ignores political reality.…