Kansas Links Court Funding To Judicial Rulings
From the Wall Street Journal
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed legislation that would eliminate funding for the state’s courts if they overturn a contentious law passed last year, a move experts described as an unprecedented display of legislative power.
The 2014 law, pushed by Republicans, stripped the Kansas Supreme Court of the power to appoint chief judges for the lower courts. A Kansas judge has sued to block it. Legal experts said the law signed late Thursday is likely the first instance of lawmakers tying a judicial budget to the outcome of a legal case.
The budget language will almost certainly be challenged in court, but activists warned that the effects of triggering the clause could be far-reaching. It’s unclear whether or how long the courts could operate without a budget in place. Courts would be unable to sign off on search and arrest warrants, issue protective orders or preside over constitutionally-mandated first appearances for people arrested for crimes, they said.
The 2014 law gave local courts the authority to select their own chief judges. The lawsuit pending in Shawnee County District Court, in northeastern Kansas, says the 2014 law violates a provision of the state constitution giving the Kansas Supreme Court “general administrative authority over all courts in the state.”
The bill signed by Gov. Brownback, a Republican, says that if that 2014 law is “stayed or is held to be invalid or unconstitutional,” the other provisions including funding for the courts are “declared to be null and void.”
Republican lawmakers denied any link between the language, known in legislative parlance as a non-severability clause, and the pending lawsuit.
Democrats, meanwhile, said the legislation is part of a vendetta against the courts for a series of rulings on education funding.
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled twice that public-school funding was unconstitutionally inadequate. Soon after the most recent ruling, the legislature passed the law limiting the administrative authority of the court.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Wall Street Journal
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed legislation that would eliminate funding for the state’s courts if they overturn a contentious law passed last year, a move experts described as an unprecedented display of legislative power.
The 2014 law, pushed by Republicans, stripped the Kansas Supreme Court of the power to appoint chief judges for the lower courts. A Kansas judge has sued to block it. Legal experts said the law signed late Thursday is likely the first instance of lawmakers tying a judicial budget to the outcome of a legal case.
The budget language will almost certainly be challenged in court, but activists warned that the effects of triggering the clause could be far-reaching. It’s unclear whether or how long the courts could operate without a budget in place. Courts would be unable to sign off on search and arrest warrants, issue protective orders or preside over constitutionally-mandated first appearances for people arrested for crimes, they said.
The 2014 law gave local courts the authority to select their own chief judges. The lawsuit pending in Shawnee County District Court, in northeastern Kansas, says the 2014 law violates a provision of the state constitution giving the Kansas Supreme Court “general administrative authority over all courts in the state.”
The bill signed by Gov. Brownback, a Republican, says that if that 2014 law is “stayed or is held to be invalid or unconstitutional,” the other provisions including funding for the courts are “declared to be null and void.”
Republican lawmakers denied any link between the language, known in legislative parlance as a non-severability clause, and the pending lawsuit.
Democrats, meanwhile, said the legislation is part of a vendetta against the courts for a series of rulings on education funding.
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled twice that public-school funding was unconstitutionally inadequate. Soon after the most recent ruling, the legislature passed the law limiting the administrative authority of the court.
Read more in our daily News Update...