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Topic: Rule of Law

Chief Justice Lawton Nuss

Interview of Lawton Nuss, July 27, 2022

Interviewed by Richard Ross
Retired Chief Justice Lawton Nuss describes his attempts to be appointed to the Court of Appeals (he was not) and to the Supreme Court. Nuss served as Acting Chief during the illness of Chief Justice Davis. After becoming Chief Justice in 2010 he became the chief spokesman and administrator for the entire judicial branch of nearly 1600 employees and 250 judges. In 2014-15 he appointed a Court Budget Advisory committee to help resolve an eight million dollar budget shortfall. He discussed at length the legislative reaction to the Gannon v State school finance case which was Show Morefiled in 2010 and not finally resolved until 2019. Nuss describes his work with the conservative leadership in the state legislature, and a conservative governor, and their attempts to gain more control over the courts. He dealt with budget shortfalls that resulted in closing the courts; attempts to elect rather than appoint judges; and threats to change the role of the courts in the constitution. Nuss was a vigorous defender of the judicial system's independence against legislative interference. He cited the Supreme Court’s Solomon case which essentially answered the question, "‘Should the judicial branch have to give away some of its power granted directly by the people in their Constitution in order to get funding from the legislature.” The court's decisions on school finance continued to provoke the legislature during his tenure. Show Less

Interview of John Vratil, September 13, 2022

Interviewed by Joan Wagnon and David Heinemann
Senator John Vratil served 14 years in the Kansas Senate, chairing the Judiciary committee 8 of those years and serving as Senate Vice-President for 10 years. Vratil was a leader in the Senate on both education issues as well as judiciary issues. He served on the Judicial Council helping the courts coordinate policy initiatives with the Administration and Legislature. He discusses the change in the power structure of the Senate, from "moderate Republican to Right Wing Conservative." He cites medicaid expansion as one example of a popular issue with the public, but not with the new "right-wing" Show Moreconservative majority. He comments the declining number of lawyers in both the Senate and House may be due to the low salaries. Show Less

Interview of Carol Beier, November 23, 2022

Interviewed by Richard Ross
Beier's interview explained how the judicial branch of government operates, showing how cases get to the Supreme Court and that the justices can only consider facts framed by the parties and their counsel. They don't "Google" for extra facts. They stay in the bounds of the facts as framed by the case. Beier is also an advocate for merit selection of judges and makes the case that merit selection is the most appropriate method. She gave examples of how retention elections operate. She told a story about a friend living in New York Show MoreCity who asked the question, "What do people do in Kansas?" The answer was "Everything important in life." Beier connected that response to her conclusion: A strong, healthy, supported Judiciary that understands it role and performs it well is part of "everything important in life." Show Less
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