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Democratic lawmakers and education advocates say Gov. Sam Brownback’s push to change the way the state’s Supreme Court justices are selected is actually a veiled attack on public education.
Brownback rolled out two ambitious goals in his State of the State address earlier this month – change the state’s school finance formula and change the way justices are selected.
Republican leaders contend that the current formula is broken and that the court’s current selection process, which relies on a nominating commission to provide nominees to the governor, is undemocratic and leaves the court unaccountable to the people.
Brownback floated two options he said would be more democratic: move to the federal system in which the executive branch makes appointments that go before the Senate for confirmation or move to direct elections of Supreme Court justices. These changes would require a constitutional amendment.
The current system relies on a nine-member commission to choose nominees, with four of those members appointed by the governor and the other five selected by a vote of the state’s practice attorneys, from a pool of applicants.
Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the current system the least democratic or accountable in the country.
“We are the only state where the process is controlled by the attorneys in the state. It’s basically attorneys choosing which attorneys decided cases tried by attorneys. … That is a non-democratic process. It’s not accountable to the broader electorate,” said King, who opposes the current system despite being an attorney himself.
But some lawmakers say that the goal is actually to make a more conservative court, one that would be less likely to rule against the state in school finance cases.
“Is there anybody who doesn’t think it’s connected?” said Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, an attorney and member of the House Judiciary Committee. “It’s absolutely connected. They cannot win the school finance lawsuit on its merits … so you’ve got to fix the game.”
Gov. Sam Brownback s push to change Kansas Supreme Court seen as linked to school finance The Wichita Eagle The Wichita Eagle
Judges for sale coming up in Kansas.
Brownback rolled out two ambitious goals in his State of the State address earlier this month – change the state’s school finance formula and change the way justices are selected.
Republican leaders contend that the current formula is broken and that the court’s current selection process, which relies on a nominating commission to provide nominees to the governor, is undemocratic and leaves the court unaccountable to the people.
Brownback floated two options he said would be more democratic: move to the federal system in which the executive branch makes appointments that go before the Senate for confirmation or move to direct elections of Supreme Court justices. These changes would require a constitutional amendment.
The current system relies on a nine-member commission to choose nominees, with four of those members appointed by the governor and the other five selected by a vote of the state’s practice attorneys, from a pool of applicants.
Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the current system the least democratic or accountable in the country.
“We are the only state where the process is controlled by the attorneys in the state. It’s basically attorneys choosing which attorneys decided cases tried by attorneys. … That is a non-democratic process. It’s not accountable to the broader electorate,” said King, who opposes the current system despite being an attorney himself.
But some lawmakers say that the goal is actually to make a more conservative court, one that would be less likely to rule against the state in school finance cases.
“Is there anybody who doesn’t think it’s connected?” said Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, an attorney and member of the House Judiciary Committee. “It’s absolutely connected. They cannot win the school finance lawsuit on its merits … so you’ve got to fix the game.”
Gov. Sam Brownback s push to change Kansas Supreme Court seen as linked to school finance The Wichita Eagle The Wichita Eagle
Judges for sale coming up in Kansas.
