By SJ Otto
Conservative Republican Kansans are already trying to unseat Kansas Supreme Court Justices Carol Beier, Marla Luckert, Lawton Nuss and Dan Biles for doing the job they were appointed to do. Governor Sam Brownback has not been happy with the Kansas Supreme court because they have insisted that he fund Kansas Schools at the levels required by the state constitution.
Of course conservatives are not going to come out and say they don’t want the Justices to do their jobs. They have tried to claim that they are coddling criminals. For example, Kelsie Voss wrote a letter to the Sunday’s The Wichita Eagle claiming that those four justices have un-necessarily delayed the sentencing of the Carr Brothers, two men accused of viscous murders and rapes. But as bad as these crimes are we have a duty to allow proper due process in law. No one in Kansas is above the law and Brownback and his supporters constantly ignore that. They are also using criminal cases, such as this, as an excuse to censor the justices on their views on school funding—or at least there is a possibility of such a bait and switch campaign.
People’s rights are supposed to be defended by the state and national Supreme Court. That is what those courts are for. When people vote them out for defending those whose lives and rights are violated, we put all of us in danger. Defending people’s rights is not about a popularity contest. At times a person’s life may be at stake. We don’t need innocent people being jailed or executed.
Let’s defend our Kansas Judges. Vote to keep in Justices Carol Beier, Marla Luckert, Lawton Nuss and Dan Biles. Let’s show Kansas that we believe in due process.
