In this long running thread, Kansas is getting ready to vote on retaining its current Supreme Court, and The Topeka Capital-Journal reports on how the polls are setting for them:
With a little more than a week left before the election, campaigns to retain and to oust the justices are in full swing. Advocates of retention point out that no justice has been nonretained in the decades Kansas’ retention system has been in place. Opponents of retention voice anger over rulings in death penalty, education and other cases — while most also say they want to keep Stegall [most recently appointee, appointed by Gov. Brownback].
The court is also considering a case that involves deciding whether the Kansas Constitution provides the right to an abortion.
“Kansas voters have the right to remove elected officials and have even more responsibility to oust judges who legislate from the bench,” the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life says on its anti-retention website.
Meanwhile, supporters of the justices argue voters need to push back against what they view as efforts to politicize the court by Brownback and the Republican-dominated Legislature. Legislation to begin the process of changing the way justices are selected failed earlier this year.
“Gov. Brownback has tried to remake the court by changing the rules about how justices are selected. The Legislature has targeted the court with new laws and budget cuts that threaten Kansans’ access to justice. The politicians in Topeka want to control our Supreme Court,” Ryan Wright, with the group Kansans for Fair Courts, said in an email.
I see the same old slogans are in place – i.e., blame the judges, not the law. I suppose it’s a way to cover up the fact that, even with control of all branches of government, the anti-abortionists still can’t get satisfaction. Now, maybe it’s just a Constitutional problem – but maybe the GOP is just using them to get elected.
Or maybe they’re just too extreme.
