Phill Kline
Encyclopedia
Phillip D. "Phill" Kline (born December 31, 1959) is the former district attorney of Johnson County
, Kansas
, USA. From January 2003 to January 2007, he was the Attorney General of Kansas
. Kline, a member of the Republican Party
, lost re-election as attorney general to Democratic
challenger Paul Morrison
on November 7, 2006, 58%-41%. Kline became the district attorney of Johnson County on the day he left office as attorney general, effectively switching jobs with Morrison. Kline then ran for a full term as district attorney, but Steve Howe defeated Kline in the August 5, 2008, Republican primary.
Kline was a polarizing figure in state politics, using his offices to aggressively prosecute abortion providers. He filed charges against George Tiller
, a late-term abortion provider, and led a years-long effort to prosecute Planned Parenthood
in Kansas. Kline's tactics drew legal and ethical scrutiny; he testified before an ethics investigation that he had the right to deceive other state agencies and had no duty to immediately correct false information provided to a trial judge in the course of his investigations of abortion providers. In 2011, the Kansas state Board of Discipline of Attorneys recommended that Kline's law license be indefinitely suspended, citing a pattern of repeatedly misleading statements, "dishonest and selfish motives", and a failure to "take any responsibility for his misconduct." Kline disputed the Board's findings as politically motivated.
, Kline grew up in Shawnee
, a community on the Kansas side of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
. He was the third of five children; his father abandoned the family when Kline was five years old, leaving his mother to be a single parent
.
He graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
and subsequently attended the University of Central Missouri
in Warrensburg, Missouri
, on a partial wrestling
scholarship, earning a B.S.
in business communications in 1982. During college, he was a news broadcaster for Kansas City, Missouri
, AM radio
station WHB
. Afterward, in order to save money for law school
, he worked in public relations for the Worlds of Fun
and Oceans of Fun
amusement parks in Kansas City. He received his J.D.
from the University of Kansas
School of Law in 1987, and was an Associate Editor for the Kansas Law Review. He entered private practice as an associate with Blackwell Sanders, a large law
firm in Kansas City, Missouri, specializing in corporate law
. He married his wife, Deborah, in 1989, and settled back in Shawnee
, close to where he grew up. The Klines have one daughter, Hillary, born in 1992. They are members of the Central Church of the Nazarene
in Lenexa, Kansas
.
After leaving Blackwell Sanders, Kline hosted two radio programs: The Phill and Mary Show on Kansas City AM station KMBZ, and Face Off With Phill Kline on Topeka
AM station WIBW
. He also served as the finance director of the Johnson County Republican Committee.
While still a law student, Kline ran for U.S. Congress in 1986. Kline won the Republican primary election
but was defeated in the general election
by the incumbent, Democrat Jim Slattery
. In 1992, Kline won election to the Kansas House of Representatives
, where he represented the 18th District. which included Shawnee. There, he chaired the House Appropriations Committee and was a member of several oversight committees. He was a member of the advisory committee for Kansas Senator
Bob Dole
's 1996 presidential campaign
. Kline remained in the Kansas House until 2000, when he ran for election to the United States House of Representatives
, seeking the Third District seat held by Democratic
Congressman Dennis Moore
. Although Kline won the Republican primary, he ultimately was unsuccessful in the general election.
in the primary and Democrat Chris Biggs of Junction City
in the general election. On becoming attorney general, Kline and his family moved to Topeka
.
in Kansas v. Marsh
, wherein the Court reversed a ruling made by the Kansas Supreme Court
that the state's death penalty
was unconstitutional.
s. In doing so, Kline requested the redacted medical records (without names) of 90 women and girls who either gave birth to a child or had an abortion. His office was ultimately granted these redacted records by the Kansas Supreme Court.
On December 21, 2006, Kline charged abortion provider Dr. George Tiller
with more than 30 misdemeanors, most involving abortions Tiller allegedly performed on minors. But just hours after the charges were unsealed, a Sedgwick County
judge threw them out "at the request of Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, who said her office had not been consulted by Kline." However, on June 28, 2007, a 19-count indictment was unexpectedly filed against Tiller by Kline's successor, Paul J. Morrison
. On March 27, 2009 Dr. George Tiller was found not guilty of all 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from some abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. On May 31, 2009, George Tiller was shot and killed by Scott Roeder while serving as an usher at his church's Sunday morning services.
In a related matter, Kline was named a defendant in a suit brought in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
challenging a state law requiring "doctors and other professionals" to report "all consensual underage
sexual activity as sexual abuse." On April 18, 2006, Judge J. Thomas Marten agreed and issued a permanent injunction, ruling that such a policy was contrary to state law.
In 2006, Operation Rescue
and Phil Kline claimed that an alleged rapist was captured with the help of abortion clinic medical records subpoenaed as a result of Kline's investigation. The District Attorney who prosecuted Estrada challenged Operation Rescue's claims, stating that Kline and the records had no involvement in the prosecution.
compared to equivalent heterosexual acts. A Kansas trial court upheld the law, the Kansas Court of Appeals
affirmed that decision, and the Supreme Court of Kansas declined to hear the case. The party challenging the law, 18 at the time of the offense, was the mentally disabled Matthew Limon. His counsel applied to the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of certiorari. In June 2003, the Supreme Court issued a GVR Order
, remanding the case for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court's then-recent decision in Lawrence v. Texas
, which held that a similar Texas
law violated the Equal Protection Clause
of the 14th Amendment
. The Attorney General's office continued to pursue the matter, seeking to distinguish the Kansas law from the Texas law. The Kansas Court of Appeals upheld the earlier decision 2-1, but the Kansas Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Limon and overturned his conviction in 2005.http://www.kscourts.org/cases-and-opinions/opinions/supct/2005/20051021/85898.htm By the time of his release he had served 5½ years.
District Attorney Paul J. Morrison
, who had received more than $1.5 million in campaign support from pro-choice groups; Kline received 41 percent of the vote. In order to oppose Kline in the general election, Morrison had changed his political affiliation from Republican to Democratic in the fall of 2005.
On December 11, 2006, Johnson County Republican Precinct Committeepersons narrowly selected Kline over fellow Republican Steve Howe to serve the remaining two years of Morrison's term as county district attorney, a move causing controversy. With 60% of the vote, Howe defeated Kline in the August 5, 2008, Republican primary for a full term as district attorney.
and quickly was picked up by bloggers, resulting in much discussion and controversy. In the memo, Kline tells his staff how to form a campaign committee for him at each church that will educate and register voters, "encourage people to contribute and volunteer," and network with their own email lists. Kline has defended the memo and the mobilization of churches it calls for, insisting it does not violate IRS regulations governing the tax-exempt status of churches, under which a church stands to lose its tax-exempt status for officially supporting a political candidate, if the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
determines so.
, a Kansas City CBS affiliate, aired an investigative report that addressed accusations that Kline did not reside within Johnson County as required by state law, and that he spent an inadequate amount of time at the district attorney's office. Kline rents a small apartment in Stilwell, and is registered to vote from that location. The KCTV reporters said in their report they were unable to observe Kline or his family at the address. On two occasions, Kline was tailed by reporters from Johnson County back to Topeka, the location of his primary residence.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office initially refused KCTV-5 access to records that log ID card passes at the Johnson County Courthouse garage, citing security concerns. Through exercise of the Freedom of Information Act, KCTV initially received redacted and incomplete records via the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. According to the report, the security system only saves 90 days worth of data and purged much of the electronic records in question. The KCTV report, based on the incomplete records, also suggested that Kline spent an inadequate amount of time in the Johnson Country District Attorney's Office, averaging only 29 hours per week. KCTV5 devoted an entire 10pm newscast to deal with criticisms leveled at KCTV5's handling of the investigation the following day.
School of Law, in Lynchburg, Va.
In 2010 the Kansas Supreme Court Disciplinary Administrator brought formal professional ethics charges against Kline before the Kansas Supreme Court based on perjury, an illegal file transfer, misleading legal guidance that Kline had provided to the Grand Jury in the Johnson County clinic case, the O'Reilly appearance, and several other matters. Kline's ethics trial began on February 21, 2011. In his testimony, Kline claimed that he had the right to deceive state agencies to gain information in abortion investigations and that he had no duty to promptly notify a trial judge that he had provided flawed information. On October 13, 2011, a Kansas legal disciplinary panel said that former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline should be indefinitely suspended from practicing law in the state because of the “dishonest and selfish” way he pursued abortion clinics. The recommendation to suspend his license will go to the state's Supreme Court.
Johnson County, Kansas
Johnson County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. The county is largely suburban, being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and containing many of its affluent southwestern suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 544,179. Its county...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, USA. From January 2003 to January 2007, he was the Attorney General of Kansas
Kansas Attorney General
The Attorney General of Kansas is a statewide elected official responsible for providing legal services to the state government of Kansas.-Divisions:* Criminal Justice* Civil Litigation* Consumer Protection* Concealed Carry...
. Kline, a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, lost re-election as attorney general to Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
challenger Paul Morrison
Paul J. Morrison
Paul J. Morrison is a lawyer and a former Attorney General of Kansas. Morrison attended Washburn University and Washburn School of Law, graduating in 1980. While at Washburn, he was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta....
on November 7, 2006, 58%-41%. Kline became the district attorney of Johnson County on the day he left office as attorney general, effectively switching jobs with Morrison. Kline then ran for a full term as district attorney, but Steve Howe defeated Kline in the August 5, 2008, Republican primary.
Kline was a polarizing figure in state politics, using his offices to aggressively prosecute abortion providers. He filed charges against George Tiller
George Tiller
George Richard Tiller, MD was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He was the medical director of a clinic in Wichita, Women's Health Care Services, one of only three nationwide which provided abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy .Pro-life group Operation Rescue kept a daily vigil...
, a late-term abortion provider, and led a years-long effort to prosecute Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
in Kansas. Kline's tactics drew legal and ethical scrutiny; he testified before an ethics investigation that he had the right to deceive other state agencies and had no duty to immediately correct false information provided to a trial judge in the course of his investigations of abortion providers. In 2011, the Kansas state Board of Discipline of Attorneys recommended that Kline's law license be indefinitely suspended, citing a pattern of repeatedly misleading statements, "dishonest and selfish motives", and a failure to "take any responsibility for his misconduct." Kline disputed the Board's findings as politically motivated.
Early life and political career
Born in Kansas City, KansasKansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
, Kline grew up in Shawnee
Shawnee, Kansas
Shawnee is a city located in northwest Johnson County, Kansas, United States and is a western suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 62,209. Shawnee's fur trading and pioneering heritage blends histories of these Kansas Territory townships: Monticello and...
, a community on the Kansas side of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
Kansas City Metropolitan Area
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
. He was the third of five children; his father abandoned the family when Kline was five years old, leaving his mother to be a single parent
Single parent
Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver...
.
He graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Shawnee Mission Northwest High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, USA, serving students in grades 9-12. The current principal is Dr. Bill Harrington. Shawnee Mission Northwest is one of many schools located within Shawnee, Kansas and surrounding...
and subsequently attended the University of Central Missouri
University of Central Missouri
The University of Central Missouri is a four-year public institution in Warrensburg, Missouri.- History :...
in Warrensburg, Missouri
Warrensburg, Missouri
Warrensburg is a city in Johnson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 16,340 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Johnson County. The Warrensburg Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Johnson County. It is home to the University of Central Missouri.-History:Warrensburg...
, on a partial wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
scholarship, earning a B.S.
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in business communications in 1982. During college, he was a news broadcaster for Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, AM radio
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
station WHB
WHB
WHB is a commercial sports radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, and is known as the first full-time Top 40 station in the country...
. Afterward, in order to save money for law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
, he worked in public relations for the Worlds of Fun
Worlds of Fun
Worlds of Fun is an amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The park opened in 1973 and was originally built by Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman . In 1995 Hunt-Midwest sold Worlds of Fun to Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which currently owns the park...
and Oceans of Fun
Oceans of Fun
Oceans of Fun is a tropically-themed water park that opened on May 31, 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri to celebrate Worlds of Fun's 10th year anniversary. At the time it was opened it was the largest water park in the world. It is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. Oceans of Fun is...
amusement parks in Kansas City. He received his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
School of Law in 1987, and was an Associate Editor for the Kansas Law Review. He entered private practice as an associate with Blackwell Sanders, a large law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
firm in Kansas City, Missouri, specializing in corporate law
Corporate law
Corporate law is the study of how shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, and other stakeholders such as consumers, the community and the environment interact with one another. Corporate law is a part of a broader companies law...
. He married his wife, Deborah, in 1989, and settled back in Shawnee
Shawnee, Kansas
Shawnee is a city located in northwest Johnson County, Kansas, United States and is a western suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 62,209. Shawnee's fur trading and pioneering heritage blends histories of these Kansas Territory townships: Monticello and...
, close to where he grew up. The Klines have one daughter, Hillary, born in 1992. They are members of the Central Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
in Lenexa, Kansas
Lenexa, Kansas
Lenexa is a city in the central part of Johnson County, located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 48,190. As a satellite city of Kansas City, Kansas, Lenexa is included in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
.
After leaving Blackwell Sanders, Kline hosted two radio programs: The Phill and Mary Show on Kansas City AM station KMBZ, and Face Off With Phill Kline on Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
AM station WIBW
WIBW (AM)
WIBW is a Topeka, Kansas, area news, talk, and sports radio station that airs such local programming such as On the Other Hand , Sports Sanity with Bruce Steinbrock, and SportsTalk with Mark Elliott. WIBW also carries national programs such as Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, and Kim Komando...
. He also served as the finance director of the Johnson County Republican Committee.
While still a law student, Kline ran for U.S. Congress in 1986. Kline won the Republican primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
but was defeated in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
by the incumbent, Democrat Jim Slattery
Jim Slattery
James Charles Slattery is an American politician and was the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator from Kansas.- Early life and career :...
. In 1992, Kline won election to the Kansas House of Representatives
Kansas House of Representatives
The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kansas Legislature, the legislative body of the U.S. State of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for crafting and voting on...
, where he represented the 18th District. which included Shawnee. There, he chaired the House Appropriations Committee and was a member of several oversight committees. He was a member of the advisory committee for Kansas Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
's 1996 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1996
The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
. Kline remained in the Kansas House until 2000, when he ran for election to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, seeking the Third District seat held by Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Congressman Dennis Moore
Dennis Moore
Dennis Moore is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1999 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
. Although Kline won the Republican primary, he ultimately was unsuccessful in the general election.
Attorney General of Kansas
In 2002, Kline won election as attorney general of Kansas, defeating fellow Republican David Adkins of LeawoodLeawood, Kansas
Leawood is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. The city is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri and is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 31,867.-History:...
in the primary and Democrat Chris Biggs of Junction City
Junction City, Kansas
Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 23,353. Fort Riley, a major U.S. Army post, is nearby...
in the general election. On becoming attorney general, Kline and his family moved to Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
.
Kansas v. Marsh
In December 2005 and April 2006, he successfully argued before the Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in Kansas v. Marsh
Kansas v. Marsh
Kansas v. Marsh, 548 U.S. 163 , is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. The Court held that a Kansas death penalty statute was consistent with the U.S...
, wherein the Court reversed a ruling made by the Kansas Supreme Court
Kansas Supreme Court
The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, the Court supervises the legal profession, administers over the judicial branch, and serves as the state court of last resort in the appeals...
that the state's death penalty
Capital punishment in the United States
Capital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...
was unconstitutional.
Abortion controversy
In 2005, Kline began investigating possible cases of child rape and illegal partial-birth and late-term abortionAbortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s. In doing so, Kline requested the redacted medical records (without names) of 90 women and girls who either gave birth to a child or had an abortion. His office was ultimately granted these redacted records by the Kansas Supreme Court.
On December 21, 2006, Kline charged abortion provider Dr. George Tiller
George Tiller
George Richard Tiller, MD was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He was the medical director of a clinic in Wichita, Women's Health Care Services, one of only three nationwide which provided abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy .Pro-life group Operation Rescue kept a daily vigil...
with more than 30 misdemeanors, most involving abortions Tiller allegedly performed on minors. But just hours after the charges were unsealed, a Sedgwick County
Sedgwick County, Kansas
Sedgwick County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 498,365 for the 2010 census. The largest city and county seat is Wichita. The county was named after General John Sedgwick...
judge threw them out "at the request of Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, who said her office had not been consulted by Kline." However, on June 28, 2007, a 19-count indictment was unexpectedly filed against Tiller by Kline's successor, Paul J. Morrison
Paul J. Morrison
Paul J. Morrison is a lawyer and a former Attorney General of Kansas. Morrison attended Washburn University and Washburn School of Law, graduating in 1980. While at Washburn, he was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta....
. On March 27, 2009 Dr. George Tiller was found not guilty of all 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from some abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. On May 31, 2009, George Tiller was shot and killed by Scott Roeder while serving as an usher at his church's Sunday morning services.
In a related matter, Kline was named a defendant in a suit brought in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
United States District Court for the District of Kansas
The United States District Court for the District of Kansas is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Kansas. The Court operates out of the Robert J. Dole United States Courthouse in Kansas City, the Frank Carlson Federal Building in Topeka, and the United States Courthouse...
challenging a state law requiring "doctors and other professionals" to report "all consensual underage
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
sexual activity as sexual abuse." On April 18, 2006, Judge J. Thomas Marten agreed and issued a permanent injunction, ruling that such a policy was contrary to state law.
In 2006, Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is a pro-life organization which originated in California and is now based in Kansas....
and Phil Kline claimed that an alleged rapist was captured with the help of abortion clinic medical records subpoenaed as a result of Kline's investigation. The District Attorney who prosecuted Estrada challenged Operation Rescue's claims, stating that Kline and the records had no involvement in the prosecution.
Limon v. Kansas
During his tenure, in the case of Limon v. State, Kline defended a Kansas law which provided substantially higher sentencing guidelines for acts of homosexual statutory rapeStatutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
compared to equivalent heterosexual acts. A Kansas trial court upheld the law, the Kansas Court of Appeals
Kansas Court of Appeals
The Kansas Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Kansas.-History:The Kansas Legislature crated the first Kansas Court of Appeals in 1895, to help the Kansas Supreme Court with an increasingly heavy caseload. The original statute that created the court...
affirmed that decision, and the Supreme Court of Kansas declined to hear the case. The party challenging the law, 18 at the time of the offense, was the mentally disabled Matthew Limon. His counsel applied to the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of certiorari. In June 2003, the Supreme Court issued a GVR Order
GVR Order
The Supreme Court of the United States may issue GVR orders. It stands for grant, vacate, and remand. These orders are especially appropriate when there has been a change in the law subsequent to the lower court or agency's decision. GVR orders are designed to be efficient and thus are not full...
, remanding the case for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court's then-recent decision in Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court case. In the 6-3 ruling, the Court struck down the sodomy law in Texas and, by proxy, invalidated sodomy laws in the thirteen other states where they remained in existence, thereby making same-sex sexual activity legal in...
, which held that a similar Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
law violated the Equal Protection Clause
Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"...
of the 14th Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
. The Attorney General's office continued to pursue the matter, seeking to distinguish the Kansas law from the Texas law. The Kansas Court of Appeals upheld the earlier decision 2-1, but the Kansas Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Limon and overturned his conviction in 2005.http://www.kscourts.org/cases-and-opinions/opinions/supct/2005/20051021/85898.htm By the time of his release he had served 5½ years.
2006 and 2008 re-election campaigns
Kline ran for re-election as attorney general in 2006. On November 7, 2006, he lost to Democratic challenger and Johnson CountyJohnson County, Kansas
Johnson County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. The county is largely suburban, being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and containing many of its affluent southwestern suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 544,179. Its county...
District Attorney Paul J. Morrison
Paul J. Morrison
Paul J. Morrison is a lawyer and a former Attorney General of Kansas. Morrison attended Washburn University and Washburn School of Law, graduating in 1980. While at Washburn, he was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta....
, who had received more than $1.5 million in campaign support from pro-choice groups; Kline received 41 percent of the vote. In order to oppose Kline in the general election, Morrison had changed his political affiliation from Republican to Democratic in the fall of 2005.
On December 11, 2006, Johnson County Republican Precinct Committeepersons narrowly selected Kline over fellow Republican Steve Howe to serve the remaining two years of Morrison's term as county district attorney, a move causing controversy. With 60% of the vote, Howe defeated Kline in the August 5, 2008, Republican primary for a full term as district attorney.
Church memorandum controversy
In late September 2006, an internal election campaign memo from Kline to his campaign staff was leaked to The Interfaith AllianceThe Interfaith Alliance
Interfaith Alliance is an interfaith organization in the United States founded in 1994. Its stated goal is to protect faith and freedom by respecting individual rights, protecting the boundaries between religion and government, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism and build common...
and quickly was picked up by bloggers, resulting in much discussion and controversy. In the memo, Kline tells his staff how to form a campaign committee for him at each church that will educate and register voters, "encourage people to contribute and volunteer," and network with their own email lists. Kline has defended the memo and the mobilization of churches it calls for, insisting it does not violate IRS regulations governing the tax-exempt status of churches, under which a church stands to lose its tax-exempt status for officially supporting a political candidate, if the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service , a bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury.The office of Commissioner was created by Congress by the Revenue Act of 1862...
determines so.
Work Attendance and Residency Controversy
KCTVKCTV
KCTV channel 5 is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area that is licensed to the Missouri side. Owned by the Meredith Corporation, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV and the two share facilities on Shawnee Mission Parkway KCTV channel 5 is...
, a Kansas City CBS affiliate, aired an investigative report that addressed accusations that Kline did not reside within Johnson County as required by state law, and that he spent an inadequate amount of time at the district attorney's office. Kline rents a small apartment in Stilwell, and is registered to vote from that location. The KCTV reporters said in their report they were unable to observe Kline or his family at the address. On two occasions, Kline was tailed by reporters from Johnson County back to Topeka, the location of his primary residence.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office initially refused KCTV-5 access to records that log ID card passes at the Johnson County Courthouse garage, citing security concerns. Through exercise of the Freedom of Information Act, KCTV initially received redacted and incomplete records via the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. According to the report, the security system only saves 90 days worth of data and purged much of the electronic records in question. The KCTV report, based on the incomplete records, also suggested that Kline spent an inadequate amount of time in the Johnson Country District Attorney's Office, averaging only 29 hours per week. KCTV5 devoted an entire 10pm newscast to deal with criticisms leveled at KCTV5's handling of the investigation the following day.
Post-electoral career
In January, 2009, Kline left Kansas to become a visiting professor at Liberty UniversityLiberty University
Liberty University is a private Christian university located in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty's annual enrollment is around 72,000 students, 12,000 of whom are residential students and 60,000+ studying through Liberty University Online...
School of Law, in Lynchburg, Va.
In 2010 the Kansas Supreme Court Disciplinary Administrator brought formal professional ethics charges against Kline before the Kansas Supreme Court based on perjury, an illegal file transfer, misleading legal guidance that Kline had provided to the Grand Jury in the Johnson County clinic case, the O'Reilly appearance, and several other matters. Kline's ethics trial began on February 21, 2011. In his testimony, Kline claimed that he had the right to deceive state agencies to gain information in abortion investigations and that he had no duty to promptly notify a trial judge that he had provided flawed information. On October 13, 2011, a Kansas legal disciplinary panel said that former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline should be indefinitely suspended from practicing law in the state because of the “dishonest and selfish” way he pursued abortion clinics. The recommendation to suspend his license will go to the state's Supreme Court.
External links
- Slate Op-Ed article on Kline
- Kansas City Star Op-Ed article on Kline/SB 323
- http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTU3ZmQ5ZDE4NjlmNzRiYzAyMGU4MWQ0OWI4NjA0NTQ= National Review Online Interview with Kline