Phill Kline got slapped down today by the Kansas Supreme Court for mishandling abortion clinic patient records. The court unanimously ordered that Kline give to the Attorney General’s Office copies of records that he transferred to the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office after he lost his re-election as attorney general. By a 5-2 vote, the high court also declared that Kline should be sanctioned for a series of actions he took in the case. In addition to transferring the records, the records were not properly safeguarded. A Kline investigator said he kept copies of the sensitive records in a Rubbermaid container in his dining room for several weeks, and other Kline officials said they stored records in cars and homes – and copied them at a Kinko’s in downtown Topeka on the day Kline left the Attorney General’s Office.
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For those who want to read what was said by the Kansas Supreme Court, here is a link to the opinion:
http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/supct/2008/20081205/98747.htm
IMHO, what the majority opinion calls “sanctions” aren’t.
thanks for the link avtolle
I hope you are doing well.
Reposted from the Open Thread –
Monkeyhawk
Posted December 5, 2008 at 11:43 am | Permalink
Phill (the second L is for “loser”) Kline gets his butt handed to him by the Kansas Supreme Court. He was to return the files he pilfered back to the Attorney General.
But read this:
“Because Kline’s actions also seriously interfered with this court’s efforts to determine the facts and arrive at resolution, we also regard reimbursement of this court for the costs of this action in the amount of $50,000 — i.e., the minimum personnel expense associated with filings, hearings, and conferences that could have been avoided if Kline’s conduct had been otherwise — to be an appropriate additional sanction. However, were we to impose this sanction, it would be borne by Johnson County rather than Kline personally. We are unwilling to make those taxpayers foot any further bill for the conduct of a district attorney they did not elect in the first place and have now shown the door.”
More of the Kansas Supreme Court on Phill (the second L is for “lame”) Kline –
”An obvious and sorry pattern emerges from the foregoing examples and from Kline’s performance at oral argument before us. Kline exhibits little, if any, respect for the authority of this court or for his responsibility to it and to the rule of law it husbands. His attitude and behavior are inexcusable, particularly for someone who purports to be a professional prosecutor. It is plain that he is interested in the pursuit of justice only as he chooses to define it.”
And my personal favorite –
“He was thorough only when digressing from the point.”
Golly, I hope he runs for office again!
Looks like Kline is forever marginalized. Kooks do not belong in public office. Although I do miss James Traficant.
brian-nuevo, doing about as well as I can right now.
Regarding my opinion on the “sanctions”; what was ordered as sanctions by the opinion of the majority, as appropriately discussed in the concurring opinion of Justice Davis and joined by Chief Justice McFarland, was nothing more than that which can be ordered as relief in a mandamus action. I agree with Justice Davis that there should be a referral to the Disciplinary Administrator for an independent investigation. As to Chief Justice McFarland’s complaint about the final paragraph, I seem to recall a similar warning once contained in an opinion of the Kansas Supreme Court directed to Fred Phelps. It is my thought that said final paragraph serves as a public warning to Mr. Kline and others that the Court will be carefully monitoring compliance with the relief ordered, a warning that should not be needed, but one which, from the facts outlined in the opinion, was felt deserved.
Wow…that story gave me a warm fuzzy.
“avtolle” –
Your friends are still thinking about you.
My sister lost her husband of 39 years last June. She’s done her best to approach those calendar milestones — her first birthday without him, the first Thanksgiving, his birthday is coming up next week, and then Christmas….
This season of “Comfort and Joy” has got to be a challenge. I wish you comfort, knowing all of us who are with you in spirit; and joy, for all the gifts she gave you.
Does this mean he’ll have to tell O’reilly he wants his copies back too?
A.V.
My father-in-law lost his wife of 30 some yrs., for a while he leaned quite a bit on me and my wife (we didn’t mind lending the support at all), so fwiw, my suggestion is to lean on your adult kids as long as you need to. Doubt they’ll mind either.
Another conservative hero shown for what he really is.
Read the court’s descision, shit, I seen drug dealers not get dissed by the court as much as Philly.
Kline’s only interest in the law has ever been to use it any way he could as a weapon to further his personal agenda. A little thing like a Supreme Court ruling won’t stand in his way.
You can bet your sweet bippy that copies have been made of those copies of people’s private records, and they will find their way into malicious hands if they haven’t already, where they will be correlated to the photos and license tage of patients that OR religiously took at the clinics. I’m afraid that this sad chapter in the abuse of the law is a long way from being over!
Glad to hear it.
Now, someone go slap the republicans in Johnson County for keeping this freak’s political career alive for so long.
Heh. I knew someday someone would bitch slap that fool. This calls for a celebration.
Monkeyhawk, Phantom, thank you for your kind words and thoughts. Much appreciated.
Back to the topic for a bit; Jed’s post supra is the kind of thing that I believe the final paragraph complained of by CJ McFarland was pointed to; a warning shot across the bow, so to speak.
If they are not already, probably won’t be too long before these records are on pro-life extremist websites, and the list of patient names is passed around their camps.
Scary that they had/have access to this info.
What everybody else said. After that incendiary flaming by the KS Supreme Court, I’m thinking ol’ Phillllllllllllllll ought to be showing up at a burn unit any time now. Not that Phillllllll cares; the law is for everybody else.
avtolle, echoing others’ sentiments, you and your daughters have been in my thoughts. Take care.
I try to stay out of Kansas politics these days, but I can’t resist when it comes to ol’ Phillll!
/NelsonMuntzOn Ha ha! /NelsonMuntzOff
P.S. I’m not going to keep bringing it up, AV (I hated that when I lost my father!), but what CF2K and others said.
In spite of these “judges” whoring for criminal abortionist quacks, Planned Parenthood failed completely in cutting off criminal prosecution. PP wanted the Court to proclaim Kline never had power to remove abortion records from the AG office, which didn’t happen. PP wanted Kline purged of every shred of criminal evidence against them and the Johnson County prosecution ended, which didn’t happen. PP wanted Kline fined, held in contempt of court, and their attorney fees paid, which didn’t happen. PP wanted Kline’s reputation destroyed with a media-feeding chastisement by the Court’s baby-hating whores, which was all that was partially accomplished. The pro-abortion media has a way of amplifying, distorting, and repeating such lies to make them seem valid and believable.
We’ve all seen some of the incriminating evidence published in newspapers. Lock up the abortionist quacks for their felony crimes.
I bet this ruling drove parkay into a foaming-at-the-mouth tirade.
“parkay
Posted December 5, 2008 at 4:30 pm | Permalink
…The pro-abortion media ….”
I thought that was Barbara Walters I saw the other day trying to convince a group of pregnant teens that the cool thing to do was for them all to get abortions.
Another “great ruling” from the second or third most corrupt court in the land. Remember, these are the same people who recently told us that the States casino gambling law meets the Constitutional requirement of State owned and State operated. Puleeze!! This is also the group that was keeping a back channel line of communication with the Governor and the Legislative leaders during the totally bogus school funding lawsuit.
Yeah, the Kansas Supreme Court has about as much credibility as O.J. Simpson.
No one more deserving of being criticized publicly than Phill Kline.
Chris – want some cheese to go with your whine?
VT – thanks for the interpretations for us and also please know that you and your family are in my thoughts as well.
So we told you so told you so told you so. Those of us who have been working against the antis for SO long know the real score here, and know that people like Chris and Parkay and Kline have no respect for what is lawful. And believe me, if Christianity were ever a basis for law, they’d go to the extreme for everything- this country would be as bad as the Christian Taliban if they could have their way.
How does it feel, Parkay, knowing that your groups have been forever damaged now?
I prove it in every post you make, you have no interest in the lives of living breathing people unless they’re Christian or unborn.
And these are the EXACT SAME PEOPLE who conned you other people into voting for the Chelsea Brooks fetal protection “Alexa’s Law”. THat law is going to hurt women in the long run more than you can ever know.
“THat law is going to hurt women in the long run more than you can ever know.”
Or care.
’cause ya know they DONT!
And, although it’s been said many times, many ways….
They hate the constitution. They bastardize it at every opportunity. And they hate the courts.
Funny, when they say others hate America, I keep thinking they are really the ones who hate everything real Americans “hold dear”.
BTH, I see you have had a major relapse of your KDS (Kline Derangement Syndrome). Try this to get rid of it. Drive down (no, better to walk, the environment you know) to Tillers clinic. March around the grounds three times chanting “yes we can”. Then march backwards around it three times saying “change we can believe in”. I bet you will be much better in the morning.
Reading the opinion, the partial dissents are the most interesting.
“The majority opinion’s imposition of sanctions against Kline for his actions before this court presents a problem. While I recognize that this court possesses inherent power to impose sanctions in cases falling short of civil or criminal contempt, our exercise of that power must nevertheless be measured by objective standards. The fundamental problem with the majority’s decision to impose sanctions in this case is that there is no objective test–statutory or otherwise–by which the court can measure Kline’s conduct and by which attorneys can avoid such penalties in the future”. — Justice Davis
Or even stronger:
“In comparison, the only conduct mentioned by the majority that relates to the failure to leave a set of records for the incoming Attorney General is Kline’s taking of the Women’s Health Care Services of Wichita, P.A. (WHCS) records to Johnson County, the failure of Kline or Stephen Maxwell to correct the Status and Disposition Report to show the WHCS records were taken to Johnson County, and the failure to reveal that he had created summaries of the records. It must also be noted that the majority specifically declines to impose sanctions on Kline for the conduct of which CHPP complains–Kline’s handling of the records during the transfer from the Attorney General’s office to the Johnson County District Attorney office and on access and dissemination of the records and their content once they were in Kline’s hands. Slip op. at 66.
This disconnect between the sanction imposed and the conduct that serves as the majority’s justification for sanction, coupled with the fact that the sanction the majority fashions could simply be ordered as relief in this mandamus action, reveals that the majority is more interested in reprimanding Kline for his attitude and behavior in the course of this litigation than in remediating the failure to leave a complete set of the investigation records for the incoming Attorney General. It appears to me that the majority invokes our extraordinary inherent power to sanction simply to provide a platform from which it can denigrate Kline for actions that it cannot find to have been in violation of any law and to heap scorn upon him for his attitude and behavior that does not rise to the level of contempt. This is the very antithesis of “restraint and discretion” and is not an appropriate exercise of our inherent power.” — Justice McFarland
—————
Wow. To repeat Justice McFarland’s statement:
“It appears to me that the majority invokes our extraordinary inherent power to sanction simply to provide a platform from which it can denigrate Kline for actions that it cannot find to have been in violation of any law and to heap scorn upon him for his attitude and behavior that does not rise to the level of contempt.”
In other words in the opinion of these two justices, the majority were gunning for Kline and didn’t exercise judicial restraint.
See? They really ARE the American Taliban.
I wonder if outie gave as much consideration to the dissenting opinions in Bush v Gore.
Or any other case.
Whatever it takes to get you through the night…
Chris – I have to admit One thing – YOU ARE HILARIOUS! In fact, you are a parody of yourself!
Now you all know why the queers have been saying when they are done with us, they’re coming after you. They wont be happy until there is a complete dominionist christian theocracy in place.
Continued thoughts for you and yours av.
At long last, can we have rid of Phil Kline now?
The last thirty plus years have established that a woman has a right to control her reproductive freedom. Barring HIGHLY unforeseen circumstance, the recent election GUARANTEES that this will not change in our lifetime.
There is nothing admirable or redeeming in continued zeal for a lost cause. Indeed, effort wasted on a lost cause is effort lost to better cause.
Respect for the rule of law indeed.
HAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH!
“Lock up the abortionist quacks for their felony crimes.”
Prove the “crimes”; then they SHOULD be locked up!
Who knew?
Rubbermaid, not for just storing food.
Coming as I did originally from the “pro life” side of things, I say again that there are very few people who are truly pro life.
There are people who are anti sex. There are people who are chauvinists. There are people who would force their faith on others. But there are very few people in this crowd that are truly pro life.
Now, we will see that this is true.
After a short time for it to sink in, any rational person must know. Abortion is NOT going to be outlawed or limited in any significant way by force of law. ALL possibility for that is now gone.
SO, those who continue to fight reality instead of doing what they can to make the best of it will prove their true colors. They will continue to waste effort that would be better used. There is no honor in that.
I think VT can comment on this too – maintaining a chain of custody of dcuments and other materials. There are fairly stringent requirements that we are required to maintain. I don’t think “kept copies of the sensitive records in a Rubbermaid container in his dining room for several weeks, and other Kline officials said they stored records in cars and homes – and copied them at a Kinko’s in downtown Topeka on the day Kline left the Attorney General’s Office” meets the required standards.
Ben, get with the program!
IOKIYAPK
“They will continue to waste effort that would be better used. There is no honor in that.”
The bj/Homer Simpson philosophy:
“Trying is the first step to failure”.
“Never try”.
” No! Try not! DO. Or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
“Do” re: banning abortion is no longer possible.
These people it’s murder.
I suggest they act like it.
I have said before and I’ll say again: if the righties spent as much in support of Gerard House etc they would do more to end abortion than all their flailing about does.
“…they would do more to end abortion than all their flailing about does.”
Kumbaya, brother, kumbaya.
“brian-nuevo, doing about as well as I can right now.”
That’s good to know.
Kansas Chief Justice admonishes fellow justices for denigrating Phill Kline
Let’s not forget what this case was about:
“This Court should be under no illusions about what Petitioner [Planned Parenthood] is asking of it. Petitioner, a criminal defendant in a pending criminal proceeeding, is asking the Court to strip the prosecutor in that action of evidence lawfully obtained and, essentially give that evidence back to the criminal defendant.”
And if the Kansas Supreme Court can take secret actions against Phill Kline, they can do it do anyone. Why has the Kansas Press allowed such abuse of power by the Kansas Supreme Court?
Poor Phill.
I wouldn’t want to be sending my resume around in George W. Bush’s economy.
Blue,
“There are people who are anti sex. There are people who are chauvinists. There are people who would force their faith on others. But there are very few people in this crowd that are truly pro life.”
Amen!
And this is exactly why the anti movement is so insistent that abortion in all cases be outlawed, rather than supporting any more than token efforts to alleviate the circumstances that force women to that decision.
Being pro-life involves a lot more than prayer vigils and demonstrations; it requires a committment to life beyond the fetal stage. It requires a committment to end the poverty that destroys families and particularly children. It requires a respect for single mothers and couples who are trying to make it in the world with one more mouth to feed. It requires an acknowlegement that we as human beings are all in this life together, and a loving willingness to care for those falling behind.
It isn’t pro-life to be against abortion if you aren’t willing to work for the lives of all those you are supposedly saving!
They’re not “pro-life,” they are advocates of illegal abortion.
Because that is the natural consequence of their stated goal.
In matters of secular law, a person’s life begins with the first breath. In fact, in the Bible, a person’s life begins with the breath of God.
The Illegal Abortion Advocates have wandered away from their original motivation (i.e., the subjugation of women) because of 1968’s Star Baby imagery in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” made for better propaganda.
Kansas Meadowlark.
So what? More to the point, what makes the one justice more credible than the others.
Oh yeah, because you agree with him and not them.
Kline’s problems are of his own making. He subordinated his job, as a prosecutor, to pursuing his pet cause like Ahab pursued the white whale. And the majority is right to rake him over the coals for it.
Meadowmuffin,
What legally obtained evidence? When requesting them, Phill agreed to respect the confidentiality of those medical records and then immediately handed them over to Billo. That sure looks like fraudulently obtaining them to me. Simply returning the records, when the chain of evidence makes it more than likely that Phraudulent Phill made copies of them for his anti buddies does nothing to respect the rights of the patients. Those have already been violated. It will not happen again!
The last two years including the recent election have been outstanding. Kline can no longer hawk his eight by ten photos from the Attorney General website (it really was a link on his website) and the evil of many corrupt Kansas officials has also come to a close.
The reign of terror of Pilshaw who knowingly accepted false oaths on the Court record has COME TO AN END. She will have to search elsewhere to utilize her wrongful actions and intent towards men and the family. Ware who falsely swore under oath was also soundly thrashed in the election and word has it her finances are in shambles.
No need to be alarmed,the evidence (as always) is and was on the Court record which defeated these two nefarious persons.
The “spurrious” Kansas SRS agent we endured is now working at a small town bank,perhaps handing out toasters for new accounts…quite a demotion for a feminine er,feminist male SRS attorney who was “spurrious” in action and deed towards men and the family.
This blog will have little meaning to most of you… but to the criminals dressed as government officials we endured:
I told four years ago that the day would come when the light would shine again and your evil actions would come to an end.
Thanks be to GOD who brought down these wicked people,that they will never be able to harm another family again. GOD always hears the voice of the afflicted against corrupt governments in every generation.
Bill, you simply must stop acting like a psycho- perhaps that’s why you’re in the situation that you are.
The law needs to be changed so that the harassment of Tiller does not continue to happen. You talk about playing by the rules Meadowlark, only when it suits your agenda.
You would have screamed from the rooftops if the other side would have pulled the stuff KKKline has.