 |
Sat Jul 04 2009
|
|
|
Departments National Issues
Kansas Attorney General is Bush’s kind of guy
by Gene C. Gerard
July 16, 2006
Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline isn’t a household name yet, but he may be soon. In recent months Mr. Kline has shown that he is the type of judicial nominee that President Bush is looking for. Mr. Kline has that most valuable of assets that right-wing Republicans require of a nominee: a “conservative judicial philosophy.” In recent months he has sought to deny poor women of the right to an abortion, despite federal law to the contrary. And he supported handing out a much harsher sentence to a gay teenager who engaged in consensual sex than to heterosexual adolescents.
In August Mr. Kline filed a lawsuit against Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The lawsuit alleges that by using Medicaid funds to provide abortions the state is depriving citizens, to include fetuses, of the right to life without due process of law. In his civil suit Mr. Kline defined conception as the beginning of life in order to bolster the argument that abortion violates an individual’s right to life. The suit claims that, “At the very moment of fertilization, a new, unique and genetically distinct human being is formed, distinct from its host while dependent upon her.”
President Bush and right-wing Republicans frequently claim that they don’t want judges who will legislate from the bench. However, it’s generally understood that what they really mean is they want judges who will legislate conservative principles from the bench. Mr. Kline certainly fits the bill. His lawsuit to prevent poor women in Kansas from receiving an abortion is clearly the result of conservative and evangelical politics. It certainly isn’t based on the law.
Under federal law Medicaid provides for abortions in the event of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is in jeopardy. And when a state accepts Medicaid funding it must adhere to this requirement or it will loose its funding. Over the course of the last year Kansas received approximately $1.2 billion in federal funding for Medicaid recipients. Of that, $1,908 was spent to provide abortions for seven poverty-stricken women who were the victims of rape, incest, or whose lives were in danger.
Governor Sebelius recently filed a motion to dismiss Attorney General Kline’s lawsuit in the Kansas courts. The motion correctly argues that the “time, money and resources wasted on [Mr. Kline’s suit] should be saved to better improve health care of all Kansans.” Hopefully, the courts will agree with this common sense approach to Mr. Kline’s frivolous and politically motivated lawsuit.
Last week the Kansas Supreme Court struck down a ruling that Mr. Kline strongly supported, which allowed for a teenager who engaged in homosexual consensual sex to be sentenced to years in prison, while heterosexual teenagers could only be sentenced to months. In 2000 teenager Matthew R. Limon was convicted of having consensual sex with another, younger teenage boy. Both adolescents were developmentally disabled. A Kansas court sentenced Matthew to 17 years in prison. Attorney General Kline noted that this type of offense merited a tough sentence.
However, in 1999 Kansas adopted a so-called “Romeo and Juliet” law. This law specified that when an older teenager engages in consensual sex with a younger teenager, and the age difference is less than four years, the maximum prison sentence that can be applied to the older teenager is 15 months. However, the law specified that this only applied to heterosexual adolescents. When Matthew’s attorney’s appealed his conviction, on the grounds that stiffer penalties for homosexual teenagers than for heterosexual teenagers were unconstitutional, a Kansas appellate court disagreed.
Appeals court Judge Henry W. Green, Jr. ruled that the sentence given to Matthew encouraged “traditional sexual mores” and the “traditional sexual development of children,” as well as marriage and procreation. Judge Green added that the ruling helped protect teenagers from sexually transmitted diseases, which he said were more common among homosexual teens that heterosexual teens. Another appeals court judge, Tom Malone, also supported the latter reasoning. Thankfully, the Kansas Supreme Court rejected the appeals court ruling.
The Kansas Supreme Court found that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, in which the court found that homosexual sex between adults was not a crime, applied to Matthew Limon’s case. Marla J. Luckert, a Kansas Supreme Court Justice, wrote the unanimous ruling which advised, “The moral disapproval of a group cannot be a legitimate state interest.” The court found that the Romeo and Juliet law violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
However, Attorney General Kline disagreed with the court. In a brief filed in support of Matthew’s 17 year prison term Mr. Kline argued that reversing Matthew’s sentence would threaten traditional marriage. He illogically warned that if the court ruled in Matthew’s favor this would ultimately force Kansas to recognize bigamist and incestuous marriages, as well as other “less-than-desirable couplings.” The latter presumably referred to marriages among homosexuals.
Mr. Kline might not be considered for a judicial vacancy now. But, he almost certainly will at some point in the future. He has a penchant for promoting a right-wing, evangelical Christian judicial philosophy. And that’s exactly the type of nominee President Bush and conservative Republicans are seeking.
Email this article to a friend
|
|
 | |
Don't forget to check out articles from 2008 and 2009National Issues
"The ethics of Palestinian resistance" December 31, 2006 David Swanson
"And the Empire Mourned . . . Dissecting the Big Lie" December 30, 2006 Jason Miller
"A 'vast carelessness' - the president's and ours" December 30, 2006 Peter Schrag, Sacramento Bee
"Gerald Ford’s historic mistake" December 30, 2006 Stephen Crockett
"New year's utopianism needed fast" December 27, 2006 David Swanson
"Obama scores as exotic who says nothing" December 27, 2006 Froma Harrop
"Ignorant armies" December 24, 2006 Robert C. Koehler
"The GOP, butterflies' wings and the withering of empire: could your climax be the decider? If you don't try, you'll never know" December 22, 2006 James Heddle
"Announcement of candidacy for President of the United States" December 18, 2006 Dennis Kucinich
"Call me Ebenezer, but Christmas as we know it needs to go....." December 17, 2006 Jason Miller
"Intolerable questions: the search for the heart of New Orleans, part II" December 12, 2006 Tom Luffman
"Dear Mr. O’Reilly, THIS is culture: the search for the heart of New Orleans, part III" December 12, 2006 Tom Luffman
"Hillary Clinton and my Visa bill" December 12, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"The Tin Man Challenge: Overcoming technology without Heart " December 11, 2006 Paul Lamb
"Bread, bread, everywhere, yet not a morsel to eat" December 11, 2006 Jason Miller
"O come let us adore them: treasuring our American values of greed, self-interest, and enlightened oppression" December 6, 2006 Ragnar Redbeard, III
"Blood fatigue" November 30, 2006 Robert C. Koehler
"Blind obedience to the canons of capitalism: of sick societies, American Dalits, and a nation of Lady Macbeths " November 26, 2006 Jason Miller
"The peace majority" November 22, 2006 Robert C. Koehler
"U.S. v. Bush" November 22, 2006 David Swanson
"Milton lost: can we regain paradise?" November 22, 2006 Jason Miller
"Progressive caucus rising: this election was no victory for centrists" November 10, 2006 Nick Burt and Joel Bleifuss
"Rumsfield replacement (Robert Gates) was director of voting company" November 9, 2006 Bev Harris
"Is there meth in Ted Haggard's heaven?" November 5, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"The politics of hope" October 24, 2006 Todd Huffman
"Corrode your conformity: Big Brother doesn't practice fraternal love" October 22, 2006 Jason Miller
"Grassroots matching grants: my five minutes as a donor" October 19, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"The trek down to N’Orleans: home to hotel in a couple of bounds: the search for the heart of New Orleans, part I" October 18, 2006 Tom Luffman
"Peace Activists Arrested on Grounds of U.S. Capitol" October 18, 2006 David Swanson
"Foley's meltdown - the seductions of clicking" October 15, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"Naked and afraid" October 11, 2006 Robert C. Koehler
"Piercing the simulacrum: Of faux democracy, petty tyrants, and painful realities" October 10, 2006 Jason Miller
"The genius of John Nichols" October 9, 2006 David Swanson
"The arrogant, the misguided, and the cowards" October 4, 2006 Sean Penn
"Mommy, what's waterboarding?" September 30, 2006 David Swanson
"Nuclear winter, global warming, or impeachment" September 23, 2006 David Swanson
"Here's why it's personal" September 20, 2006 Cynthia L. Butler, Esq.
"Reclaiming Omelas" September 20, 2006 Robert C. Koehler
"The brilliantly profitable timing of the Alaska oil pipeline shutdown" September 17, 2006 Greg Palast
"My city, our president and exploiting 9/11" September 15, 2006 MediaBloodhound
"Palast charged with journalism in the first degree" September 11, 2006 Greg Palast
"9-11 compromise - the mini-series" September 10, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"The fugitive girl act" August 29, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"The year the levees broke" August 29, 2006 Greg Palast
"Semper why?" August 24, 2006 Robert C. Koehler
"The smell of fear" August 17, 2006 Robert C. Koehler
"Cynthia McKinney's election night remarks" August 15, 2006 Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
"Bush versus the Constitution" August 15, 2006 David Swanson
"The Lamont victory -- next steps for citizens" August 10, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"Bush heir cut: Awards tax break to son of an Astor" August 1, 2006 Greg Palast
"Where were you when they took your rights away?" July 29, 2006 David Swanson
"Chicago City Council passes living wage bill" July 26, 2006 Free Press staff
"Conservatives and conscience" July 22, 2006 David Swanson
"They don't call it the "White" House for nothing" July 22, 2006 Greg Palast
"Kansas Attorney General is Bush’s kind of guy" July 16, 2006 Gene C. Gerard
"Containing the military industrial complex" July 16, 2006 David Swanson
"Kinks among us: contemplations on pride and democracy" July 16, 2006 Rady Ananda
"Republican Congressman says Bush should be removed from office" July 13, 2006 David Swanson
"It's time Democrats aggressively play the terrorism card" July 10, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"Cindy Sheehan to move Camp to National Mall" July 7, 2006 David Swanson
"Joe Lieberman's loyalties" July 7, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"So much for "We'll Get bin Laden Dead or Alive"" July 5, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"The Supreme Court issues a stinging blow to Bush. Score one for the little guy." July 1, 2006 The Ostoy Report
"Has this country gone completely insane?" July 1, 2006 Mike Ferner
"A line in the sand: why the Busby/Bilbray election and their voting machine "sleepovers" matter (or should) to the entire nation" June 27, 2006 Brad Friedman
"Bush at the tipping point: a lawless and incompetent leadership" June 26, 2006 Ralph Nader
"Shushing the big money" June 26, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"The startling contrast betweeen Dems and Repugs this fall" June 18, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"The strange case of San Diego's: lazy independents, self-destructive Minutemen, and closet Libertarian, voters" June 14, 2006 Ron Baiman
"Support the troops" June 13, 2006 Sheila Samples
"Gathering to demand the truth about 9/11" June 11, 2006 Mike Ferner
"Building green websites" June 11, 2006 Phil Tajitsu Nash
"Nine state Democratic parties back impeachment: Whose table is it, Nancy?" June 11, 2006 David Swanson
"Photo essay: Poverty and homelessness in San Francisco" June 10, 2006 Free Press staff
"Safe passage on the Earth" June 9, 2006 David Swanson
"Why John Kerry is going to have it tougher the second time around" June 6, 2006 Cynthia L. Butler, Esq.
"Eleven excellent reasons not to join the military" June 6, 2006 David Swanson
"Another Swiss cheese Gore denial that leaves the door wide open for 2008. Who's he kidding?" June 6, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"Bush pal says gay marriage is nothing more than a political issue for the Prez" June 6, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"American capitalism and the moral poverty of nations" June 6, 2006 Jason Miller
"Twenty-fifth anniversary of first reported case of AIDS a time to recommit to the fight" June 5, 2006 Brad Luna and Jay Smith Brown
"Uproar downwind" June 2, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Last Call" June 2, 2006 Alan Woods
"FTC and credit reporting reform -- or the next wave of multi-district national class actions" May 29, 2006 Cynthia L. Butler, Esq.
"Lay convicted, Bush walks (and Ahnold gets Lay'd)" May 28, 2006 Greg Palast, Special For Truthout
"Used the phone lately? Worried?" May 28, 2006 William Fisher
"Enron's good fight" May 27, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"So, how WOULD a Patriot Act?" May 25, 2006 David Swanson
"Shadow America" May 25, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"When Ahnold Got Lay'd…and California got Screwed" May 25, 2006 Greg Palast
"Blocking justice" May 15, 2006 William Fisher
"Fighting back in the language war and winning elections" May 15, 2006 Kirk Muse
"Immigration: Myths and Reality" May 15, 2006 Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
"Let's raise gas taxes and lower income taxes" May 15, 2006 Lester R. Brown
"Bush beats out Nixon: Least liked President ever" May 15, 2006 David Swanson
"The spies who shag us: The Times and USA Today have Missed the Bigger Story -- Again" May 14, 2006 Greg Palast
"Divine strake" May 11, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Divine strake" May 11, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"RNC attack on John Conyers demands action from Democrats" May 8, 2006 David Swanson
"Act now, pray later" May 7, 2006 Frank Scott
"Impeach Cheney first" May 5, 2006 David Swanson
"Crossing the border" May 5, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"The Bush administration and Wall Street – Two peas in a pod" May 2, 2006 Robert Lockwood Mills
"The "New Totalitarianism" now defines a desperate neo-con end game" May 1, 2006 Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Rove's status as "Official A" spells indictment" April 28, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"The FEMA gap" April 27, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Have a Koch and a smile: free markets and property rights Trump humanity and the environment!" April 27, 2006 Jason Miller
"We are the deciders" April 25, 2006 Sheila Samples
"Out of the shadows -- the Seattle immigration march" April 14, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"The beloved Cynthia McKinney: a White ex-cop speaks out about a Georgia Congresswoman" April 14, 2006 Michael C. Ruppert
"An interview with fifteen term Congressman Andy Jacobs" April 14, 2006 Kevin Zeese
"A Message from Dennis Kucinich" April 14, 2006 Dennis Kucinich
"Democracy be damned - Republicans need another war" April 14, 2006 Thom Hartmann
"Loser nation" April 14, 2006 Greg Palast
"Censure movement catching fire" April 10, 2006 Stephen Crockett
"Gangster government: a leaky president afoul of 'Little Rico'" April 10, 2006 Greg Palast
"The real problem with Bush's leak" April 10, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"Public energy is misdirected" April 7, 2006 David Swanson
"An interview with Norman Birnbaum" April 7, 2006 Kevin Zeese
"What’s really scary about the “new religious right” and their politics" March 29, 2006 Marj Creech
"Fitzgerald will seek new White House indictments" March 29, 2006 Jason Leopold
"Housing cuts for the poor, tax cuts for the rich" March 27, 2006 Gene C. Gerard
"The definition of insanity" March 23, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"House leader not home when peace knocks" March 23, 2006 Mike Ferner
"Just a Thought" March 23, 2006 Uke Man
"Americans call Bush "Incompetent, Idiot, Liar"" March 20, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"Most Democratic senators fail as presidential candidates" March 19, 2006 Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence
"The age of anxiety redux" March 19, 2006 William Fisher
"National Lawyers Guild calls for the impeachment of South Dokota Governor Michael Rounds for signing anti-abortion legislation" March 19, 2006 Michael Avery
"Libby attorneys identify CIA officials in Plame leak" March 19, 2006 Jason Leopold
"True to its history, FBI is still violating civil liberties" March 19, 2006 Gene C. Gerard
"On the executive branch and war powers, continued" March 19, 2006 populistamerica.com
"Obstruction trial may jog Libby's memory" March 18, 2006 Jason Leopold
"A powerful new voting block emerges: The anti-war movement becoming a political force that cannot be ignored" March 18, 2006 Kevin Zeese
"Beating a dead horse" March 17, 2006 Blair Bobier
"Did Bush make mistakes in good faith?" March 14, 2006 David Swanson
"Hungering for justice at my first congressional testimony" March 14, 2006 Mike Ferner
"You know it’s hard out here being pimped: Thoughts Hustlin’ and Flowin’ in my mind" March 14, 2006 Ernie McCray
"Chicago pro-immigrant, anti-HR4437 rally" March 12, 2006 Free Press staff
"CIA leak path: Cheney, Libby, Woodward" March 8, 2006 Jason Leopold
"Detroit's other Super Bowl " March 8, 2006 Brian McKenna
"Carnival Post-Katrina" March 8, 2006 Dave Lewis
"Port insecurities" March 8, 2006 James Mehrle
"In the spirit of Lysistrata" March 8, 2006 Lucinda Marshall
"Details emerge in latest round of plame emails ‘found’ by the White House" March 3, 2006 Jason Leopold
"15 arrested at White House torture protest" March 3, 2006 Mike Ferner
"Bush and Gandhi" March 3, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"NY Times bungles coverage of AP video which proves Bush lied about breached levees" March 3, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"White House ‘discovers’ 250 emails related to Plame leak" February 26, 2006 Jason Leopold
"Time to disband Homeland security and renew democracy" February 26, 2006 Stephen Crockett
"Huge march planned for eve of Katrina evictions" February 26, 2006 David Swanson
"Bush violated the law on port sale" February 24, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"Check your conscience at the door: we're building an empire " February 21, 2006 Jason Miller
"NSC, Cheney aides conspired to out CIA operative" February 21, 2006 Jason Leopold
"Bush, Republicans, and Judas Priest: Breaking the law, breaking the law" February 19, 2006 August Keso
"For whom does the Secret Service's bell toll?" February 19, 2006 Robert Lockwood Mills
"Guns don't shoot people--Vice Presidents do" February 19, 2006 Daniel Patrick Welch
"Impeachment could be the Democrats' best get-out-the-vote message" February 19, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"DINO stands for "Democrats In Name Only"" February 19, 2006 Josh Mitteldorf
"Founding Fathers, baseball, apple pie, and impeachment" February 19, 2006 David Swanson
"Road to peace goes through Santa Cruz" February 19, 2006 David Swanson
"Pogo was right" February 19, 2006 Lucinda Marshall
"The Republican talk radio “big lie”" February 19, 2006 Stephen Crockett
"Gonzales withholding Plame emails" February 17, 2006 Jason Leopold
"The Nader effect" February 16, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"The most incredible thing about Cheney's shooting" February 14, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"The polite majority" February 14, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Debating impeachment among Democrats" February 14, 2006 David Swanson
"Removing Attorney General Gonzales" February 14, 2006 Stephen Crockett
"What really happened back at the ranch" February 14, 2006 Richard Hayes Phillips
"The Bush pattern of deception continues" February 13, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"Cheney spearheaded effort to discredit Wilson" February 11, 2006 Jason Leopold
"Give peace a vote" February 9, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"What every Jew should know about new House Majority Leader John Boehner" February 6, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"New discoveries about the Lucasville uprising" February 6, 2006 Attorney Staughton Lynd
"Brown calls President's '07 budget "morally reprehensible"" February 6, 2006 Ben Wikler
"U.S. detention camps for political subversives" February 5, 2006 Paul Joseph Watson
"Bring regime change home" February 5, 2006 David Swanson
"Evolution is intelligently designed: Social Darwinism, silver spoons, and our emperor’s call to arms to sustain the rich" February 5, 2006 Jason Miller
"Cindy Sheehan terrorizes Bush and his trained clapping seals at the State of Disunion speech" February 3, 2006 Special by Ben Hooked, Historical Science Fictionists from the Planet Alpha-Omega 1,2,3
""Fixed" intelligence from Feith's "Gestapo Office" the CIA and the Bush administration's impeachable lies about Iraq's prewar links to al Qaeda" February 3, 2006 Walter C. Uhler
"Enron: The Bush Administration's first scandal" February 2, 2006 Jason Leopold
"What an idiot!" February 2, 2006 Daniel Patrick Welch
"Being a national activist" February 2, 2006 David Swanson
"Responses to State of the Union Address" February 2, 2006 Institute for Public Accuracy
"The State of the Union: Blah, blah, blah (Yawn)" February 1, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"Bush & Cheney Are The Great "Protectors?" Give Us a F***king Break" January 31, 2006 The Ostroy Report
"Rev. Jesse Jackson mourns Coretta Scott King" January 31, 2006 Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
"What we didn't hear tonight" January 30, 2006 Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
"Eggs Roll, Eyes Roll" January 27, 2006 John Ireland
"Unfathomed dangers in Patriot Act reauthorization" January 26, 2006 Paul Craig Roberts
"Halliburton's Sleeze" January 26, 2006 Nancy Khoury
"Relevant Saint" January 26, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Alito and Roberts: Evasion Confirmed" January 24, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"Open letter to members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee" January 20, 2006 Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy (POCLAD)
"How Dick Cheney used the NSA for domestic spying pre-9/11" January 20, 2006 Jason Leopold
"The war on dissent gets creepy" January 20, 2006 Mike Ferner
"The polite majority" January 19, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"NASA ready for the worst, response will be prompt if Atlas 5 explodes" January 18, 2006 Todd Halvorson, Florida Today
"Woolsey's way to peace" January 18, 2006 David Swanson
"Bush and Republicans vs. rule of law" January 16, 2006 Stephen Crockett
"Dr. King: Drum Major for Justice" January 16, 2006 Rev. Jesse Jackson
"Filibuster Bush, impeach Alito" January 15, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"Filibuster evasion" January 15, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"Poll: Americans support impeaching Bush for wiretapping" January 15, 2006 Bob Fertik
"Birth of awareness" January 12, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Anti-war group has documents proving NSA spied on them" January 12, 2006 Kevin Zeese
"Pants on Fire: The Liars of the Bush Administration will take the world down in flames if we let them" January 12, 2006 Daniel Patrick Welch
"Fitzgerald maintains focus on Rove but attorney says 'Architect' not a target" January 11, 2006 Jason Leopold
"It's been a long trek since Nov. 2, 2004 -- now getting shorter" January 11, 2006 Robert Lockwood Mills
"Man of the Year: Patrick Fitzgerald" January 10, 2006 Gerald Rellick
"Another unqualified Bush appointment" January 10, 2006 Gene C. Gerard
"A peace movement demanding the rule of law" January 10, 2006 David Swanson
"On Martin Luther King Day: giving ourselves to the struggle" January 7, 2006 Todd Huffman, M.D.
"Forum with Congressmen Moran and Murtha packs hall, 500 turned away" January 7, 2006 David Swanson
"Primal smirk" January 4, 2006 Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"A new year’s message from Ramsey Clark" January 4, 2006 Ramsey Clark
"Extraordinary circumstances indeed" January 3, 2006 Paul Rogat Loeb
"ImpeachPAC forms Citizens Impeachment Commission" January 2, 2006 ImpeachPAC
"Go to the light!" January 1, 2006 Sheila Samples
"Can Cheney save Bush's presidency?" January 1, 2006 David Swanson
Read Articles by Year: 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

All content © 1970-2009 The Columbus Free Press Disclaimer |