L&T Publisher Earl Watt

Some believe since we don’t vote for U.S. Supreme Court justices, we shouldn’t vote in Kansas, either.

Here’s the difference:

The president, nominates a justice, and then the Senate has to confirm the choice. There are 100 U.S. senators.

Both the executive branch and legislative branch have to agree on a legislative appointment.

In Kansas, the unelected Kansas Bar Association selects four lawyers from the four congressional districts plus a fifth to chair the commission, and the governor appoints a minority of four for a total of nine people.

They select three names, and the governor must choose one of those three.

And that’s it.

No confirmation from the Kansas Senate. No role at all from legislative branch.

It has also been said that justices would have to divulge their positions in Kansas prior to being elected, but at the federal level, nominees are grilled by senators before being confirmed, and none of them ever state how they would decide a court case.

Nor should they.

The same would be true in Kansas if justices were elected.

Currently, district judges are elected in Kansas, and none have ever ran stating they would decide any case any specific way.

Asking voters to retain a judge they never heard of is a ridiculous claim of having input. Having justices visit the state to make their case of being a fair judge would be legitimate voter input.