Unfettered Letters

Judges and politics

Attorney Greg Musil’s column (5/1, Opinion, “In selecting our judges, we should keep politics out”) stated that politics are not involved with our current system of selecting judges.

The problem I have is the seven attorneys on the nominating committee. Attorneys, as a group, are Democrats and very liberal.

So what’s not political about having half of the committee made up of liberal attorneys who want to influence our court system?

Tim Bower
Overland Park

Kline, Planned Parenthood

I am once again dismayed at the conduct of Johnson County Prosecutor Phill Kline and his misuse of public funds to harass a legal operation in our community.
It appalled me when the Johnson County Republican Committee “elected” him when he had not won the Johnson County vote in the previous election, but I thought he might behave himself and we could wait it out until the term ended. He did assure us that he would not be running again. But he has used that office for his own private crusade in going after anyone or any organization he dislikes or disagrees with.
Isn’t this malicious prosecution/persecution? Since when are people in danger of being prosecuted for conducting legal business?
This is so wrong. I’m glad that grand jury system saw through it (3/11, A-1, “Charges and countercharges over grand jury; Those with a stake in the Planned Parenthood proceedings have different takes on what occurred”).
I hope the county and state will take their opinions and suggestions regarding small numbers of people petitioning for a grand jury to heart and change it. This has been abused by Kline and could be by others.
Linda Katz
Overland Park

Sick of sniping

Raise your hand if you are sick of the sniping between Phill Kline and Paul Morrison. They’re giving good entertainment value, but it’s not what they were hired for.
Why is the justice department allied to political parties anyway? I hope both of these cowboys will head into the sunset.
M. Theis
Mission Hills

Lincoln a fine lawyer

In a letter about the “experience issue” in the presidential election process, a letter writer uses Abraham Lincoln as an example of a successful president who did not bring a wealth of experience to the office.

While it is no doubt true that Lincoln had a relatively short resume from the point of view of governmental experience, the statement that Lincoln “failed at practically everything he tried from 1832 to 1858” is simply not historically accurate, and I would hasten to defend the “Greatest American” on this score.

Before he was elected president, Lincoln practiced law for 23 years in Sangamon County, Illinois. He was primarily a circuit-riding trial lawyer. He was considered one of the foremost trial lawyers in Illinois, if not the entire country. He was widely admired for his abilities and well known for his integrity.

Abraham Lincoln most decidedly did not fail as a lawyer. In fact, he is respected and revered even today as a model for how the practice of law should be conducted.

I have always been very proud to be able to say that I am a member of the profession of Abraham Lincoln.

Glenn Bradford
Kansas City

Mortgage crisis

An awful lot of people claim they got duped into signing something they didn’t understand when they ended up in financial trouble over a mortgage. An awful lot of other people think the people in the first group are morons for not reading the disclosures and they deserve what they got.

Suppose you go to LendingTree.com, fill out the initial application, and then actually read the disclosure documents before submitting your loan request. Do you know what you have in front of you?

Sixty-two pages of legal text, 2,300 lines, 474 paragraphs, 19,361 words.

Thank goodness for lawyers and politicians for providing us with “truth in lending.”

Bob Allen
Kansas City

Sex abuse settlement

Upon reading “Settlement is KC’s biggest for priest sex case” (9/27, A-1), any sense of justice I felt was rendered by the diocesan settlement was quickly tempered by the outrageous statement of the diocesan lawyer, Jonathan Haden, who argued on behalf of the diocese for dismissal of the case.

The victim, all of 11 years old at the time the abuse began, stated, “the priest told (me) that the priest was next to God and everything he did was God speaking to (me).” Haden argued before the settlement that “A reasonable person would have understood at the time the events happened it was something else than being touched by God.”

So an 11-year-old boy should have known better than to be manipulated by a full grown man — a trusted authority figure — who forgives sins and has the title of “Father”?

If Mr. Haden has an 11-year-old boy (or girl) at home, I challenge him to look at his child in the face and actually believe his statement could be true.

I believe the diocese settled this case, not so healing could begin, but because they knew they would lose it.

Brian P. Heydon
Kansas City

Expensive legal assistance

There are those of us with loved ones in prison, many unjustly, who are unable to scrape together $20,000 for desperately needed legal help as appeals run out.

A local retired lawyer worries about selling his lakeside Camelot-type mansion because he likes the one in Aspen better. Asking price: $8 million.

OK, so this is a whine. But the scales of justice are skewed by the almighty dollar.

Marilyn L. Kuehn
(Mother of inmate Chris Kuehn)
Kansas City, Kan.

Fired prosecutor speaks

Kline made mistake

Last week, Phill Kline made another huge mistake as Johnson County district attorney. He fired longtime prosecutor Jacqie Spradling (4/26, Local, “Fired prosecutor vows to get her job back”).

As a former assistant district attorney and, more importantly, as a citizen of Johnson County, I am appalled. Ms. Spradling is considered one of the best prosecutors in this state. She dedicated her career to prosecuting some of this county’s worst criminals.

Ms. Spradling has an impeccable reputation and an outstanding trial record. If you have any doubts, ask any inmate in the Johnson County jail who the most feared prosecutor is in Johnson County.

At least the criminals have a reason to celebrate.

Kristen Shelley
Chapin Law Firm
Shawnee

Reasons unclear

I have read the article on another prosecutor being fired from the Johnson County district attorney’s office several times and I am still confused as to why Phill Kline fired her. I was equally confused when he previously fired eight prosecutors. Have I missed something, or has Mr. Kline never given any reasons for his actions?

I have always understood that when an employee is terminated that the employer must meet with them and state the reason they are being terminated. Do these rules not apply to the district attorney since he is an elected official? Maybe District Attorney Kline could enlighten us on where we can find this particular ruling.

Berniece Ziegler
Overland Park

Gonzales, U.S. attorneys

I would like to add my name to the growing list of leaders and citizens demanding the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

At the very least he has been less than forthright concerning the firings of the eight U.S. attorneys. And even in the absence of legal wrongdoing, his prevarications in public and private greatly compromise what should be an impartial and honest office.

His job is to prosecute citizens of the United States. He need not be perfect to do so, but he does need to be forthright to the American public.

Mike Bannen
Prairie Village

Bond, U.S. attorneys

Isn’t it amazing that in light of the partisan firings that Alberto Gonzalez oversaw, our partisan Sen. Kit Bond from Missouri would vote against stripping the U.S. attorney general of his powers to appoint U.S. attorneys?

This was a little piece of chicanery that was slipped into the Patriot Act last year that allowed the Bush administration (or the “Honorable” Alberto Gonzalez) the ability to appoint U.S. attorneys without Senate approval.

Is there any senator from either party who reads what they are voting on before they vote?

In Bond’s case, he is one of only two senators who voted against their own self interest (and that of senatorial powers) in a 94-2 vote.

His explanation for that vote ought to be rich.

Maybe it is time for Bond to represent the people of Missouri and stand up to the Bush administration.

If there were no crimes committed by these “honorable” men and women of the White House, then by all means, they should come and testify under oath. If something illegal did occur, then the Senate and House have a responsibility to subpoena and question them. Anything less is partisan politics at its worst.

William J. Brazill
Kansas City