KC Buzz Blog

Kline wins partial victory in federal court

   Federal judge Kathryn Vratil has overruled a request for a restraining order from eight employees fired by Johnson County district attorney Phill Kline.

    In her ruling (read the whole thing here) Vratil declined to order Kline to participate in a Johnson County grievance hearing the workers have asked for.

   However -- the judge said the hearing could go forward, with or without Kline.  Once the hearing is held, she said, Kline can decide if he wants to abide by the decision; before that, she said, the request for a restraining order is "premature." (Kline has argued that his job is a state position and that county rules don't apply.)

   She also overruled a Kline request that more than two dozen affidavits supporting the workers be thrown out.

   Kline's lawyers have also filed a motion to dismiss the case.

Posted by Dave Helling

Kline goes before ethics

    Phill Kline will be the topic of a meeting today of the Kansas Ethics Commission. Kline, if you recall, was under scrutiny for using state computers to send campaign emails during his unsuccessful bid to keep his job as AG.

   Some Kansans who signed up with the attorney general's office to learn more about the new concealed weapons law reported receiving campaign emails from Kline's campaign.

   Kline's attorney argues that there's no proof Kline's staff used state computers, and that any use of the email list for campaign purposes was cleared by state ethics folks.

   We'll find out more later today, when the commission holds a hearing on the matter and decides if a fine is warranted. Kline could face up to a $5,000 fine.

   Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was also fined y the commission for a similar offense.

   No word on whether Kline, who's now JoCo DA, will make an appearance today.

Posted by David Klepper

Kline: Let a special prosecutor do it

   Outgoing Attorney General Phill Kline plans to appoint a special prosecutor to handle criminal charges against Dr. George Tiller, the Wichita abortion provider. Kline made that announcement Wednesday, about two hours before a hearing in Sedgwick County District Court on whether 30 misdemeanor charges against Tiller should be reinstated.

UPDATE: From The Star's David Klepper:  Naming a special prosecutor means the investigation can go forward without Kline, who lost a re-election bid in November but was later selected by Republican precinct leaders to become Johnson County district attorney. The special prosecutor, Don McKinney, a Wichita attorney and a Democrat, will be directed to investigate and prosecute only Tiller and not an Overland Park abortion clinic, which was also part of Kline’s three-year investigation into alleged violations of state abortion laws.

UPDATE:  Sedgwick County judge today rejected a request from Kline to reinstate criminal charges against Tiller. The judge agreed with Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston that Kline could not file criminal charges in her jurisdiction without her consent. The judge's decision has no effect on Kline's appointment of a special prosecutor to continue the investigation of Tiller.

Posted by Keith Chrostowski

Off the mark?

   Kansas Democratic Lt. Gov.-elect Mark Parkinson called on author Thomas Frank to consider an update on his book What's the Matter With Kansas, after the Democrats scored key election victories. 
    Parkinson to the Hutchinson News: "I think it's time for Thomas Frank to fire up his laptop and start a new book, because tonight there's nothing the matter with Kansas."
   But Frank has kept a low profile in the aftermath.
   KC Buzz Blog guesses Parkinson was speaking before Phill Kline won the JoCo prosecutor's job.

Posted by Keith Chrostowski

Just in: It's Kline!

   JoCo Republicans tonight picked Phill Kline as county prosecutor. He will take the post of the man who turned back his re-election bid for Kansas AG.

  The vote: 316 to 291 for Steve Howe.

  Kline needed 306 votes to win.

  He left without speaking to reporters.

Posted by Dave Helling

Could OR stand for Overwrought?

    Here's a different take on Paul Morrison's landslide victory over Phill Kline in the race for Kansas AG.

   Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion group known for organizing blockades of abortion clinics across the nation, filed its version of the race on the Christian Newswire. The headline: "Morrison Slithers into Kansas AG's Office on Backs of Dead Babies"

    Perhaps they can be forgiven a bit of hyperbole. It's been a bad week at Operation Rescue.

   First, they lost Kline. Then they lost a referendum in South Dakota, where voters rejected a ban on virtually all abortions.

Posted by Kit Wagar

Kline concedes

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline concedes defeat to Democrat-come-lately Paul Morrison. The Republican pledges to help with a smooth transition so Kansans may "continue to have the government that they deserve."

Minutes later, Morrison tells supporters: "I'm honored by this trust you have put in me, and I will not disappoint."

Posted by Rick Montgomery

Root canal slows Kline down

   Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline began his day today in typical candidate fashion:
   From 7 to 8 a.m. he joined supporters for last-minute campaigning at a Topeka corner.
   At 8:15 a.m. he voted.
   But then at 9:15 a.m. he did something not so typical for a candidate on election day: he went to the dentist. Had to. After a tooth ache that lasted about a week, Kline had a root canal.
   When asked how he felt tonight at the Republican watch party at the Capital Plaza Hotel, he said, “I’m speaking slower than I typically do.”
   Holding both hands up in the air, he added, “It’s all prescriptive.”

Posted by Dawn Bormann

Kline, Morrison await results at election parties

    Kansas Republicans will be watching election results tonight at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Topeka. State Democrats will be across town at the Ramada Inn.

   Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline will be at the Capital Plaza while his Democratic opponent, Paul Morrison, will attend a watch party at the Ritz Charles conference center in Overland Park before heading to Topeka around 8 p.m.

    U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, a Lenexa Democrat, is hosting the Ritz Charles watch party.

   Voters who describe themselves as "pro-life" were enthusiastic about Kline after casting their votes today.

    "I vote for life," said Carolyn Seifert after voting at a Lenexa polling place. "Therefore, I voted for Phill Kline. There was no debate in my mind."

   Morrison had his voters, too.

   "I'm a person of faith, a practicing Christian, and I think he's (Kline) taken his agenda a little too far and imposed it on the rest of the population," said Jim Kelly, who voted in Johnson County for Morrison.

Posted by Jim Sullinger

Abortion clinics want Kansas court to take control of records

  Here's the latest on the request by Kansas abortion clinics into statements by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly that he had obtained information about abortion records.  The clinics want the Kansas Supreme Court to seize the records from Kansas AG Phill Kline. He calls a request for a special prosecutor "frivolous."

Posted by Keith Chrostowski