“Despite the Legislature’s coercive tactics, Hendricks ruled on Wednesday that taking away the Supreme Court’s power to appoint chief judges violated the separation of powers doctrine, as well as the Kansas Constitution, which says, ‘The supreme court shall have general administrative authority over all courts in the state.’

“As noted at the outset, the governor and Legislature probably were not surprised by this outcome. The highly unusual act of tying the outcome of this case to the judicial budget was intended to challenge the powers of the state court…

“Separation of powers is a core principle of democratic government. The judicial branch was intended to be shielded from the shifts in the political majority that governs the legislative and executive branches. That’s an important separation that needs to be protected.”

Read more here: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/sep/06/editorial-judicial-mess/?opinion