TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An anti-abortion group campaigning to unseat at least one Kansas Supreme Court justice also wants to change how new justices are selected.
Kansans for Life is allied with a mostly conservative Republican bloc in wanting to have Supreme Court justices confirmed by the state Senate. GOP conservatives’ interest in curbing the governor’s power to appoint justices — and pushing the court to the right — means the judicial selection process probably will remain a perennial issue for the Legislature.
The anti-abortion group is hoping to oust Justice Carol Beier, who upset them with her opinions in 2006 and 2008 abortion cases and was an appointee of former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, an abortion rights Democrat. The “Fire Beier” effort, announced last week, may expand to include one or more of the other three justices who are on the ballot in the Nov. 2 general election, asking voters to keep them on the bench for another six-year term.
Meanwhile, Kansans for Life lists Senate confirmation for new justices as a key item on its agenda for this year’s legislative session.
But conservatives’ desire to change how justices are selected clouds the issue of whether the current process is too insular and secretive. Many GOP moderates and Democrats are wary of change because they suspect it’s ultimately designed to result in court rulings pleasing to conservatives.
“The only way you can get at the judicial branch is either to change the way the judges are selected, or put fear into the judges so that they are afraid to be independent and do the right thing,” said state Rep. Marti Crow, a Leavenworth Democrat, an attorney and abortion rights supporter who opposes Senate confirmation for the justices.
