Media Request Information For press and media interviews, debates and forums contact: Tim Golba, Chairman, Kansas Judicial Review of Jo. Co. 913-782-8647. Leave message if no answer. Get Your "Vote Yes!" Yard Sign Today! Yard signs for the Vote Yes campaign are available now and you can obtain them the following ways: E-mail us at info@kansasjudicialreviewofjoco.org with your name, address, and contact information. Call us at one of the numbers below, corresponding to your area: 913-384-1220 -- Northeast Johnson County 913-403-9440 -- Northern Overland Park, Merriam, & Mission 913-897-5129 -- Central Overland Park 913-897-3619 -- Southern Overland Park & Southeastern Jo. Co. 913-856-2845 -- Gardner, Spring Hill, Edgerton 913-782-8647 -- Olathe and Western Johnson County 913-707-7681 -- Lenexa 913-341-3330 -- Leawood 913-961-4562 -- Shawnee Thank you for your support! Vote YES on ballot issue No. 1 To advocate the present Judicial Nominating Commission process that recomends candidates for bench vacancies, is to advocate a system of secrecy. For 34 years this commission has demonstrated through their actions, that the public should not be provided any information about the judge candidates. Their adopted rules of procedure evidences their desire to discuss behind closed doors such minor information that would be of great value to the general public when they are then finally asked to retain these sitting judges. When this present system of nominting judicial candidates is flawed by voting by secret ballot, it only puts a dark cloud over the accountibility and integrity of the 14 participating commission member's. The message to the public is this commission can go behind closed doors and gain information from these candidates on how they stand on particular issues and that's okay, but no one else can know. When this commission continues to bring forth nominees for appointments that represent one political party, they can hardly say they are fair and impartial and not political in their selections. (examples, 2004 appointment's, Kevin Moriarty a former law partner of Democrat Rep. Dennis Moore and 2004 Kathleen Sloan who worked in Moore's law office along with the current 1/09 appointment of Thomas Kelly Ryan who worked in Moore's law office.) This present judicial selection process is political. The over-used laments of political money buying judges and judges having to make promises to get elected, begs the over-riding question of who are these present judges, appointed through this secret closed doors process, answerable to? Certainly not the public. Observing the Kansa Bar Association's fear of losing control of a system that provides them the judges that agree with them, to turning it back over to the people these judges are suppose to represent, speaks volumes. If locking our court rooms so the people couldn't hear what was happening inside would be wrong, so is a system that has adopted procedures that operate in this very secret manner. It took the Republican Party vs. White decision to affirm judicial candidates all over the United States their free speech rights to state their views on disputed political issues and to participate in the competitive politial process and the advocates of this failed Judicial Nominating Commission system want to stand in the way of those affirmed rights. Public accountability trumps secrecy any day. Vote YES on ballot issue #1 Check Out Our "Vote Yes" Literature Here is an image of our literature: Professor faults way Kansas picks Supreme Court justices Printed in the Kansas City Star -- November 30, 2007 By DAVID KLEPPER The Star’s Topeka correspondent TOPEKA | A University of Kansas law professor is taking aim at the way Kansas selects its Supreme Court justices. Professor Stephen Ware looked at the ways all 50 states choose their top judges and, in a paper released Thursday, concluded that in Kansas, lawyers have too much influence. Read the full article here. Information on Commission Nominees to fill District Judge Seat In July, the 10th Judicial District Nominating Commission sent the Governor three names to consider to fill one of the two vacancies on the Johnson County District Court bench. Once one vacancy is filled, the two remaining names will remain, along with a new name (James Phelan) to consider for the second vacancy. Per the Kansas City Star through the Commission, the four nominees are: Charles Droege, an Overland Park attorney with a solo practice. Droege also serves as municipal judge for De Soto and Edgerton, and is an administrative hearing officer for the Kansas Department of Revenue. Robert Bjerg, of Lake Quivira, who has a solo practice in Leawood. Sara Welch, of Leawood, who has a solo practice in Olathe . She formerly was with the Johnson County district attorney’s office. Johnson County Magistrate Judge James Phelan Those against electing district judges claim the current system is not political, and that a system of electing judges would make the system too close to politics. In light of this argument, Kansas Judicial Review of Johnson County has obtained information regarding the leanings of these individuals: Charles Droege Democrat Donated $3650 to Kathleen Sebelius Donated $3550 to Paul Morrison Donated $1000 to the Kansas Democratic Party Sara Welch Unaffliated Donated $150 to Paul Morrison Robert Bjerg Donated $2000 to Paul Morrison Donated $1000 to Kathleen Sebelius On Steering Committee of "Justice, not Politics" to make sure judges are always appointed. Wife Kathi attended Mainstream Coalition's "Take Back Kansas" event in 2006. James Phelan No known political contributions Our State is at a Crossroads This is a very important time in Kansas. With so many important issues surfacing in recent months and years, the role the court system plays is of increasing importance. Judges are assigned to be independent arbiters of the law but are unfortunately becoming activists. Kansas judges are no longer content to determine the constitutionality of laws passed by our executive and legislative branches. As evidenced by the school finance lawsuit and the court's decisions in that matter, the Kansas Supreme Court has gone so far as to dictate what the legislature shall spend on education. The problem is, due to the current system of judicial selection in Kansas, there is no reliable check on the power of these judges, leaving them to make decisions which don't reflect the law established by the elected branches of government. Our Federal and State constitutions are based on the principle that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. It's time to return to that principle. The role of Kansas Judicial Review of Johnson County In order to restore the balance of power that is currently under threat as a result of activist judges, we must change the system in which these judges are selected. The current system of judicial selection does not allow any true input from the people, and has a system of retention that, by design, doesn't allow for true examination and scrutiny of the judges that are in office. Kansas Judicial Review of Johnson County has been formed to not only provide information on the judges, but to seek and actively promote change in the system so as to provide more accountability from the courts, and more direct responsibility to the people. The Ballot Initiative In 2006, the Kansas Judicial Review of Johnson County was successful in mounting a grassroots effort to gather well more than 8,000 signatures and put the question of electing judges in the Tenth Judicial District on the November 2008 ballot. For more information about this, please consult the "Ballot Initiative" section on the left side of the website, and come back soon for additional information. Take a look at the key areas of our website. Our website is intended to be a resource for you -- including information about Kansas judges and their decisions, as well as our efforts -- most importantly on the ballot initiative in the Tenth Judicial District -- to change the system in Kansas. We will also have important news articles and information on how to get involved in Kansas Judicial Review of Johnson County.