Unfettered Letters

‘Straight talk’ from Miami judge

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Spencer Eig should be given a medal instead of rebuke for trying to save a 15-year-old girl’s life and destiny (3/1, A-10, “Judge rebuked for blunt warning; The Florida jurist told a runaway, 15, she could become a ‘toothless, dead crack whore’.“). She had been to hell and back, through no fault of her own, making bad choices due to bad parenting. Judge Eig did her a favor by advising her where she was headed if she landed on the streets.

Judge Eig gave her straight talk, which apparently no one else has. No apology was needed, instead an evaluation of her situation and further assistance were needed.

Chief juvenile judge Cindy Lederman, who apologized to the girl for Judge Eig’s remarks, was wrong. She should have counseled her further on the realities of the life she was choosing and provided her with further social services assistance.

Josephine Byrne
Raytown

A singular defeat in JoCo

In two distinct elections this season, the primary and the general, Johnson County voters have spoken clearly and with conviction. They have totally repudiated the single-issue philosophy by soundly defeating Phill Kline, Tim Golba, Kris Kobach and their coalition of zealots.

Kline was routed in the primary by Steve Howe, who won the general election as well. And the ballot Question 1 — election of judges — initiated and supported by Mr. Golba in order to get Kline elected to a judgeship, was soundly sunk. The defeat gave Kobach and the Johnson County Republicans a stout refusal.

It’s not that Johnson Countians are so dead set against what they want. It’s that they are so myopic that one single issue drives their entire agenda to the exclusion of all else. You cannot govern that way.

Mr. Golba has promised that we have not heard the last of this, either from him or from his followers. Perhaps not. But we have heard the last of this particular strategy for a good long while, at least in Johnson County. However, other Kansas counties should be on the lookout.

Reggie Marselus
Lenexa

Question 1: Electing JoCo judges

Tim Golba’s claim that “trial lawyers” dominate the 10th Judicial District Nominating Commission is demonstrably false (10/20, Opinion, “As I See It: “Vote ‘yes’ on county Question No. 1”). Of the seven lawyers on the commission, two are sitting judges (one from Overland Park, one from Johnson County) and a third is a retired judge who is a full-time mediator. The other four lawyers are a mixed bag: a civil defense lawyer, a civil plaintiffs’ lawyer, a criminal defense lawyer and a general practitioner.

Contrary to Golba’s unsupported assertion, these seven lawyers (and their nonlawyer counterparts) have no unified agenda, other than to select qualified judges who will make decisions based on the law, rather than on their personal beliefs and agendas. And based on their track record so far, they are doing a very good job of it.

Matthew C. Miller
Leawood

Attorney Gregory Bentz (10/21, Opinion, “As I See It: Judicial elections are a bad idea for Johnson County”) thinks to avoid political judges we should let a lawyer-infused nominating commission do the work. I guess we should think that the seven attorneys are not influenced politically.

Mr. Bentz likes retention elections as a means to oust an unpopular judge, but we all know how that confuses the voting public as they enter the voting booth. Judges tend not to be activists, he says, and yet our state supreme judges felt it was OK to order state legislators to spend a certain amount of education money.

Personally, I would like to know where prospective judges stand on key issues before they sit behind a bench.

Vote yes on Question 1 so everyone has a say, not just 14 political insiders.

Tim Bower
Overland Park

Phill Kline as a judge?

Should Johnson County’s Question 1 pass, it would be a travesty of justice. Justice is supposed to be blind. Elected judges would be like any other politician — blind to anything that doesn’t increase their power. They would also feel beholden to whoever contributed to their election campaigns.

Apparently, Kansans for Life is behind the push to change the judiciary system, just like they want to change so many things, especially for women. Instead of Question 1, the initiative should be called “Kansans for Phill Kline as a Judge.”

Pamela Gregory
Prairie Village

Views on JoCo judges question

Johnson Countians should consider one burning question before voting on Question 1: Should judges be elected? What is the absolute worst thing that can happen if I vote yes?

The answer: We could end up with Phill Kline as a judge. Would you want him hearing your court case?

Ed Beck
Olathe

If Question 1 is opposed by The Star and a majority of attorneys in Johnson County, that should give the people more reason to vote for it.

K.A. Parker
Leawood

Justice system not for sale

Citizens of Johnson County, on Nov. 4, will be asked to decide if we want to elect judges rather than continue with the current system of appointing them based on merit. What happens if we scrap this method in favor of a politicized election process?

Any lawyer, regardless of ability, reputation, skill, temperament or experience can become a judge if he or she can raise enough money and run a successful campaign for election.

Judges will become politicians, worried about and indebted to those who give them money for their campaigns.

Influence will become ingrained in the justice system, both criminal and civil.

Without stopping to consider what this really means, many of us might vote yes when we really mean to vote no. Here’s the choice. Do we discard our current merit-based selection system for one that invites influence-peddling and the potential for corruption?

I prefer that Johnson County keep selecting judges by merit. Don’t you?

Carefully read the wording on ballot Question 1. Vote no. The law and justice system should not be for sale in Johnson County.

K.O. Strohbehn
Leawood

Leniency in sentencing

Although The Star’s article about short prison terms (10/12, Local, “Leniency annoys prosecutors; The suggestions by a commission are faulted as light, but judges aren’t bound to them”) revealed some interesting facts, I believe it missed the bigger issue involving sentencing.

Regardless of how much sentence is imposed, the majority of those sentenced face only a fraction of the sentence once they are received by the Department of Corrections.

With limited resources and space available at the Department of Corrections, inmates are often released early. The judge and prosecutor can do little to stop it.

I think this is why the judges impose a harsher sentence in some cases, because in reality a 40-year sentence is often only 20 years.

Kevin LaBranche
Kansas City

Don’t change judge selection

Our country seems to have many problems. The judicial system in Johnson County is not one of them. Our district judges are selected by a fair, knowledgeable, nonpartisan method, by those who are in a position to accomplish this.

Question 1 would change this. Our judges would first have to become politicians — campaigning, raising money, making promises to individuals and special interest groups. This would not be good.

So, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Vote no.

Martha Wagner
Overland Park

Think of our judicial system

Sarah Palin is pro-life, even in cases of incest or rape. She’s a National Rifle Association member. She wants creationism taught in schools alongside evolution and has supported abstinence-only sex education. If she gets to be president, our judicial system could move so far right that Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas will seem like true-blue liberals.

I was a strong Hillary Clinton supporter, but I moved to Barack Obama when Clinton conceded because his political philosophy is very close to Clinton’s. But for those who vow to not vote at all or vote for McCain-Palin because Hillary lost or vote for John McCain just because he put a woman on the ticket, think of our judicial system. These appointments are lifetime, and the damage will extend far beyond a one- or two-term McCain-Palin presidency.

For justice’s sake, vote Obama-Biden.

Suzanne B. Conaway
Kansas City

Judge selection in JoCo

My colleague Stephen Ware (8/23, Letters) says the Johnson County judicial nominating process is “controversial” because of “its secrecy and the way it favors lawyers.” These words, along with “accountability,” are buzz words of the Federalist Society, of which Ware is a spokesman. Only lawyers can be district judges. The Johnson County system for selecting lawyers to hold these positions starts with a commission of 14, half of whom are lawyers and half not. It does not give lawyers “tremendous power” and non-lawyers less. It gives them equal power. There is nothing controversial about that. If by “secrecy” Ware means that the discussions of the candidates’ qualifications do not take place in public, what can be controversial about that? Does any organization discuss personnel matters publicly? As for accountability, the fact that the lawyers selected as judges must face periodic retention elections provides direct public accountability. That few judges are rejected in such elections means that the system has been successful in producing the kind of fair and competent judges Johnson Countians want and need.

Can that be controversial? Perhaps, to those who oppose fair and competent judges.

Robert C. Casad
Professor of Law Emeritus,
University of Kansas
Lawrence

As a non-attorney member of Johnson County’s Judicial Nominating Commission, the letter written by KU law professor Stephen Ware was of considerable interest, particularly because of his exaggerated view of the supposed “secrecy” of the nominating process and how lawyer members of the commission dominate it. I’ve served on the commission for more than five years. We publicize the names of applicants, interview them in open, public sessions and seek input from attorneys and lay people in Johnson County.  Our only deliberations not on the record are specific discussions regarding the individual applicants for judge. Our votes are by secret ballot, ensuring no intimidation or political pressuring. The commission has seven lawyers and seven lay citizens, the latter appointed by the elected Board of County Commissioners. The lawyers bring a specialized knowledge of what makes a good judge, but they hardly dominate the discussions, nor do they gang up on us lay people.

Janis McMillen
Overland Park