TOPEKA, Kan. — Former Johnson County District Attorney and Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline is getting his wish and then some in his fight to keep his Kansas law license.
On Friday, five of the seven Kansas Supreme Court justices set to hear his ethics violation appeal have recused themselves from the case, citing conflicts of interest.
Officials declined to name the justices who removed themselves from the case, but earlier this week Kline filed a motion to remove justices Lawton Nuss and Carol Beier from the case, claiming that they have conflicts that could render them biased.
“This confirms Beier was deceptive and that her previous opinions were mere press releases for her third-wave feminism,” said Kline’s attorney Tom Condit. “This is explained more fully in our motion to recuse Justice Beier filed this past Tuesday. The other justices joined in these deceptions – they also appointed the prosecutor and the panel which relied on those deceptions. These layers of deception by this Court and its appointees render this case irretrievably flawed.”
Kline is accused of ethics violations in his prosecution of abortion clinics for allegedly failing to report child abuse in abortions performed on minors.
A new hearing date has not yet been set. It is likely that appellate court judges would be asked to serve as sitting justices to hear the case.
