A federal judge upheld health care privacy and common sense in overruling Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline’s opinion seeking mandatory reporting of most sexual activity in youths under age 16.
District Court Judge J. Thomas Marten pointed out that both sides agree on mandatory reporting of cases involving incest, sexual abuse of a child by an adult and sex involving a child under age 12. The issue was whether health providers must report “consensual underage sexual activity” — and Marten sided with providers who argued that state law gives them the discretion to decide whether an injury has occurred.
Kline plans to appeal, but it’s doubtful he’ll have better luck — his opinion simply went too far.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison is sending a welcome tough message to kids who threaten teachers: Prepare to be in serious trouble. His office recently filed felony charges against five middle school students at Trailridge Middle School in Lenexa, a Kansas City suburb, for allegedly making criminal threats against teachers, including posting death threats on the Internet and putting an unspecified liquid into one teacher’s coffee pot.
Is Morrison (who is running for attorney general) overreacting? Not when you consider that some teachers work in hostile atmospheres and actually fear for their safety. “We’re trying to make a statement,” Morrison told the Associated Press. “Teachers have a right to feel safe in their classrooms.”
Agreed.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The Eagle ran on Monday’s front page an Associated Press article about an Oklahoma man suspected of killing a 9-year-old neighbor girl; while the article noted his interest in cannibalism and other sensational details, it also suggested a possible reason for the tragedy: The man suffered from mental illness and might have stopped taking Lexapro, an anti-depressant.
That also seemed to be the story in the recent QuikTrip shooting in Wichita: A mentally ill patient not on his meds runs amok.
Which raises the question: How can families and state agencies do a better job of keeping patients on meds and out of trouble?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The clear demand for illegal immigrant labor in this country is undeniable. And two letter writers argued on Sunday’s Opinion pages that Americans should direct their anger at those who employ illegal immigrants. Washington Post columnist Gene Robinson makes a good point on the subject:
“After all, we invited these people to come here and pick our strawberries, clean our offices, pluck our chickens, bus our tables, wash our cars and perform a host of other jobs for which our society no longer wants to shell out working-class wages and reasonable benefits such as health insurance. By ‘invited’ I mean that we left the Mexican border essentially open, gave employers the luxury of no-questions-asked hiring without any credible threat of sanctions, and failed to make clear who was supposed to enforce the immigration laws and how. That adds up to an invitation.”
Posted by Melissa Cooley
Some of my colleagues who are disgusted by the Phelps family’s freak shows nevertheless worry that state laws restricting funeral protests can’t withstand First Amendment challenges and will merely end up enriching the Phelpses.
Perhaps — but I think these laws are worth risking a court challenge. As a New York Times article reports, nine states have recently passed funeral protest bills and 23 others, including Kansas, will likely soon vote to pass one.
Most of these laws have been crafted in a reasonable, measured way with an eye to passing legal muster. They don’t ban speech but regulate it with “time/place” provisions that federal courts have recognized as one of the few constitutionally valid ways to limit speech.
“A funeral home seems high on the list of places where people legitimately could be or should be protected from unwanted messages,” Michael C. Dorf, a constitutional scholar at the Columbia University Law School, noted in the piece.
Others legal experts cite as precedent a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court case upholding a law that sought to keep anti-abortion pickets away from a private home.
At any rate, it’s interesting and telling that the Phelpses are largely avoiding states where the laws have passed , according to the article. I say call their bluff — and err on the side of protecting grieving families from vicious, uncivil, in-your-face harassment.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
This being an election year, values voters and the groups that represent them plan to push Congress to do more on their issues, according to Associated Press. The constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., could get a House vote in July. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has promised that the Senate will take up the marriage amendment and the constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, as well as a House-passed bill to prevent some minors from crossing state lines to get abortions. The Family Research Council also plans a “Values Voter Summit” in September to “raise the bar of achievement for this Congress.”
No word yet on whether Congress will consider a constitutional amendment to ban unneeded constitutional amendments.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It’s great news that the state expects to collect $289 million more in revenue through June 2007 than had been projected, as state budget officials announced Monday. This extra money should help the state pay for the first two years of a three-year school funding plan and avoid another costly special session. Unfortunately, it also likely means that the pressure will be off lawmakers to look for budget cuts, such as consolidating school administration costs, and to let local voters decide for themselves whether they want expanded gaming.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
