As we’ve mentioned before, we are very concerned about attempts to politicize and bully Kansas courts. They have played an essential role in school funding cases. Here’s an eloquent explanation of what’s at stake:

“We judges cannot render decisions based on popularity polls, because our job is to protect everyone’s rights, including – especially – those who may be reviled or unpopular with the public. While the executive and legislative branches of government answer to the will of the people, the judicial branch must make decisions based on the law and the facts and protect all rights guaranteed in state and federal constitutions. If public opinion at the time had driven Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme COURT would not have required school desegregation.

“Moreover, the retention election process never was designed as a tool for registering disagreement over a single COURT ruling. It is part of a merit-based selection and retention system in place in both Florida and Kansas, designed to minimize the effect of politics on selecting judges; the judges run without rivals for a yes’ (instead of ‘no’) vote.

“As retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has said eloquently, ‘The founders realized that there has to be someplace where being right is more important than being popular or powerful, and where fairness trumps strength. And in our country that place is supposed to be the courtroom.’”

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article3451526.html#storylink=cpy