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Kansas High Court Upholds Citizen Grand Jury Law Used By Abortion Foes

By Howard M. Friedman

Yesterday in Tiller v. Corrigan, (KA Sup. Ct., May 6, 2008), the Kansas Supreme Court upheld provisions of K.S.A. 22-3001 providing for citizens to petition for the empanelling of a grand jury. The court held that the provisions are not unconstitutional on their face. The law, used in Kansas by by abortion opponents to obtain investigations of abortion clinics, was challenged on separation of powers grounds. In upholding the law, the unanimous decision went on to say that the court in which the citizen petition is filed must review the validity of the petition and oversee the grand jury process. The supreme court also concluded that a citizen-empanelled grand jury has authority to issue subpoenas for documents, but the supervising court must assure that the grand jury is not on arbitrary fishing expedition and that the subpoena targets were not selected out of malice or with intent to harass. Finally, the supreme court said that when valid subpoenas are issued for patient records, a number of steps must be taken to protect patient privacy. Yesterday's Kansas City Star reported on the decision. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 07, 2008 (boomark / email).