Supreme suit
Professor sues Kansas justices
Phillip Kline, former Kansas attorney general and current Liberty School of Law professor, filed a civil action lawsuit against the justices of the Kansas Supreme Court for violating the U.S. Constitution and the Kansas Constitution by suspending his law license without due process of law.
Lawsuit — Phillip Kline believed he was treated unfairly in court. Google Images
The decision to suspend his license in 2013 came as the result of Kline’s investigation of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood (CHPP) and Women’s Health Care Services (WHCS) and their failure to report instances of child sexual abuse.
The Supreme Court accused Kline of conduct violations alleging that “a fervid belief or desire to see his cause succeed” caused him to mislead judges and juries.
The lawsuit centers around the fact that when Kline’s case went before the Kansas Supreme Court, five of the seven justices recused themselves from the proceedings, and five justices from the Kansas appellate and district courts were selected to fill in.
Kline’s attorney, Thomas W. Condit, said this violates Kline’s right to a fair trial as the Kansas Constitution requires at least four Kansas Supreme Court justices to sit on a case
for it to be lawful.
“Due process requires a fair hearing in front of an impartial judge in a properly constituted tribunal,” Condit said. “The idea of replacement judges per se is not a problem and not unlawful. The problem is that the Kansas Constitution says that all cases must be heard with at least four justices sitting.”
The unconstitutional nature of the handling of Kline’s case is amplified by evidence showing bias among the panel of three attorneys set up to hear the ethics charges. In Kline’s lawsuit, he points out ties of two of the three lawyers to his political opponents.
“One of his panel members donated to that guy who said that, and some of the ethics charges were about mishandling of medical records,” Condit said. “It’s just scandalous that the Supreme Court of Kansas, in such a high profile ethics case after such a high profile political campaign, would let two of the three lawyers judging Kline actually have contributed to his opponents.”
It began back in 2003 when Kline entered the Kansas attorney general’s office and began investigating state medical providers. According to the lawsuit, Kline found information from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment that indicated 166 abortions had been performed on children under the age of 14 but only four cases of sexual abuse had been reported.
In 2004 a Shawnee County judge issued subpoenas for medical records from CHPP and WHCS; however, they were able to avoid compliance for more than two years. A few weeks after receiving the documents, Kline lost the reelection and the ability to pursue the evidence he had obtained.
After the election, Kline was appointed Johnson County District Attorney and as such continued to hold jurisdiction over CHPP. In 2007 Kline filed 107 charges of criminal acts against CHPP including 23 felonies. Condit sees the failure to try any of the charges against CHPP as one of the great tragedies to come from this case.
“Phil Kline, over the course of his six years and two jurisdictions, brought his evidence in one form or another before four different judges, and in every case all four judges found probable cause that crimes had been committed,” Condit said.
The new attorney general, Paul Morrison, defeated Kline in the election through a smear campaign, accusing him of threatening women’s privacy and mishandling women’s medical records.
“His one opponent said Phil Kline wanted to scatter women’s medical records all over Kansas,” Condit said. “This was the kind of stuff that was said, and it was just vicious stuff.”
Condit is hopeful that the lawsuit against the Kansas Supreme Court will restore Kline’s license and his reputation.
“He is really a straight-laced guy, really believes in the rule of law, … (and) had no reason to ever lie,” Condit said. “He had all the evidence. He didn’t have to lie. So Planned Parenthood and their friends in Kansas have really succeeded in destroying his reputation on a bunch of fiction and a bunch of things that themselves were lies. And Phil Kline is the kind of guy that the last thing he would do is lie to a court. … He believes in the rule of law too much.”
Lapp is a news reporter.