Rhetoric on Supreme Court amendment leaves voters unclear on how to choose
- Roger Sims, Journal Staff
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
By Roger Sims, Journal staff
The most hotly debated issue on the Aug. 4 primary ballot is the question of amending the Kansas Constitution to change the way members of the Kansas Supreme Court are selected.
Currently the seven members of the court are selected by a process where a nine-member committee comprised of attorneys and non-attorneys who review a candidate’s qualifications and performance records. Three of the top candidates are chosen, and their credentials are forward to the governor, who makes the final choice.
The selected candidate serves at least one year and at the next general election their name appears on the ballot and voters are asked if that judge should be retained. If the voters say the justice should be retained he or she serves a six-year term before being on the ballot once again for voter approval.
Typically, voters return both justices and judges in lower courts to office, and only in rare instances are judges voted out of office. Six members of the seven members of the Kansas Supreme Court were retained in office in the November 2022 election with more than 60% of voter support.
A “no” vote would keep that system in place and would not change the current language found in the constitution.
Proponents of the amendment want to have candidates run for a seat on the supreme court and be selected by voters to serve. Candidates for open seats on the Supreme Court would file to run and would run campaigns to be elected.
A “yes” vote would approve having candidates run for election.
Opponents of the amendment charge that electing the judges by a vote, candidates who receive the most campaign contributions from wealthy donors will be swayed to make decisions that favor the wealthy. The current system leads to the Supreme Court making fair and unbiased rulings.
Opponents also point to two rulings that have been made by the Kansas Supreme Court that have angered conservative legislators. The court has ruled that women have the right to make the decision to have an abortion. It has also ruled that, according to the state constitution, the Legislature must adequately fund public schools.
In a 2022 vote during a primary election, Kansans voted 60% to 40% against an amendment that would allow the Legislature to ban abortions. About 59% of Linn County voters favored the amendment, and most of the anti-amendment votes came from urban areas, including Topeka, Wichita, Lawrence and Wyandotte and Johnson counties.
Currently in Kansas, abortion is allowed up to 21 weeks and 6 days following gestation. Any abortion after that must be certified as one being done to either save the mother’s life or protect the mother from damage to a major organ.
The statute that set up the selection of Supreme Court judges by a committee was approved in the wake of what was called the “Triple Play Scandal” in 1956. Republican Gov. Fred Hall failed to win reelection and with 11 days left in his term, Hall resigned and Lt. Gov. John McCuish became governor for that 11-day period.
McCuish appointed Hall to the Supreme Court after Chief Justice William Smith, a longtime Republican loyalist, resigned and set up a vacancy. The move was made to prevent the incoming Democratic governor from appointing anyone to fill the vacancy.
Public outrage was so strong that in 1958 Kansas voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the constitution that created the current merit-based selection process based on qualifications instead of loyalty. The amendment also increases judicial independence and reduces political influence. It also provides democratic accountability through retention elections.
A sample copy of the ballot is included below. Click on it to enlarge. If the change to the amendment is approved, the words that are crossed out will be eliminated and new language will be included.
