Litigation

Brownback Questions KS Merit Selection

By Peter Hardin

The Republican candidate for governor in Kansas, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, has questioned whether the state’s merit-based process for selecting Supreme Court justices is constitutional.

Brownback doesn’t plan to propose changes to the process, which recently was challenged in a federal court lawsuit (see Gavel Grab). His spokeswoman said, according to an Associated Press article, that Brownback is “going to continue to talk with those who are interested in making a change.”

Some of his conservative fellow Republicans consider judicial selection to be an important issue. They have voiced unhappiness with rulings by the court on abortion and education funding. Because of the way justices are picked, the high court falls short in being accountable to voters, they contend.

The Democratic candidate for governor is state Sen. Tom Holland. He doesn’t believe the selection process needs reforming. Along with some others, who include Republican moderates, Holland thinks the system insulates the court from partisan politics.

In Kansas, a nominating commission recommends candidates for selection by the governor. The commission is made up of five lawyer members and four non-lawyers. James Bopp, an attorney who filed the lawsuit challenging this system, said it denies ordinary Kansas voters an equal voice in selecting Supreme Court justices.

A subsequent AP article suggests that while Brownback is silent in his “Road Map for Kansas” about abortion and gay rights, his remarks about the state Supreme Court “hint at his conservative leanings.”

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 07, 2010 (boomark / email).