Two state supreme court justices are up for re-election on Tuesday’s ballot. PEER REVIEW is a most effective tool. When you are in the same business you know what to look for as to what makes a good minister, cook, teacher, nurse, or in this case, judge.
Gov. Sam Brownback would like you to give them the boot.
Why? Because he would like to appoint their replacements.
Supreme Court Justices Eric Rosen, Topeka, and Lee Johnson, Caldwell, are under attack because of a majority ruling that a sentence by a lower district court did not follow sentencing guidelines.
The case involves a most heinous crime including rape and murder by two brothers, Reginald and Jonathan Carr, back in 2000.
A district judge gave the brothers the death sentence. The glitch came when it was discovered the brothers must be sentenced separately, not as a twosome.
So, the death sentence is lifted — temporarily — until the case goes back before the district court.
Make no mistake, the brothers will never walk free again.
And yet Brownback has portrayed this as an instance of “liberal” judges running ramshod over our constitutional rights. In a political ad, Brownback accuses the justices of basing their decision to have the case resentenced on “political beliefs.”
No governor, it is you who is putting politics above the law.
God help us when a governor’s personal ideology dictates the laws of Kansas.
That’s why the state’s court system has in place a Kansas Judicial Evaluation Committee. Attorneys, former judges, law professors and lay people comprise the committee of 15 whose job is to evaluate sitting judges.
To a one, these supreme court justices, and those running for the Court of Appeals, received overwhelming approval from their peers with the recommendation they should be retained in office.
That should give voters all the confidence they need to vote accordingly.
— Susan Lynn
Don’t let Brownback’s ideology become law; vote yes to keep judges
