Kansans for Life Campaigns Against Kansas Supreme Court Justice

January 24, 2010

Justice Carol Beier

By Cliff Judy (TOPEKA, Kan.)

When you hear November elections, you may think of senators and representatives. It's probably a fair guess you don't know who Carol Beier is, or any of the other Kansas Supreme Court Justices.

Read - Carol Beier's Bio

The anti-abortion group Kansans For Life announced it wanted to oust Justice Beier at a rally in Topeka on Friday, the 37th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade decision.

Kansans For Life calls the campaign "Fire Beier." It wants Beier off the bench because of her past opinions against Phill Kline, the former Kansas Attorney General who tried to prosecute Wichita abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Kline also tried to file charges against Planned Parenthood.

"Our political action committee will be encouraging them to vote to not retain Carol Beier, and probably some of the other ones," says Mary Kay Culp of Kansans For Life.

Kansans For Life also wants justices to be subject to state Senate confirmations.

State Senator Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, is on the Senate confirmation oversight committee and doesn't support the idea. She questions whether it's smart to go after a justice because of legal opinions on a single issue like abortion.

Senator Schodorf also believes confirming members of the governor's Cabinet and a Supreme Court Justice are two entirely different things, and the judiciary shouldn't have to play politics.

"I think it's very dangerous," says Senator Schodorf. "Justice is supposed to be blind. Justice has to be impartial."

Currently, a nine-member nomination committee recommends three finalists for a Supreme Court Justice position to the governor. The governor then chooses from the finalists.

Voters can confirm a Supreme Court Justice or vote them out every six years. No justice has been ousted or even come close in decades.

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