This November, Kansas voters will be asked to retain judges, including six of the seven Kansas Supreme Court Justices. This vote will determine the make-up of the state's highest court and could have a monumental impact on the future of Kansas policy. Mainstream Coalition is encouraging you to vote on Nov 8 to RETAIN ALL.

As KU Professor Amii Castle says in this Kansas Reflector opinion piece, the state Supreme Court is the next target of the extremist conservative agenda trying to take over our state. Those who want to impose a narrow world-view onto Kansas residents failed to impose their beliefs regarding abortion via the Aug 2 abortion amendment, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve given up. The courts are the current battle ground for reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, women's rights, everyone’s rights, and the KS Supreme Court is the next target.

On November 8, Kansas voters will be asked to do a performance review of not only 6 of the 7 KS Supreme Court Justices, but also Court of Appeals Judges, District Judges, and District Magistrate Judges. We have limited resources to make that decision, such as the Johnson County Bar Association Judicial Evaluations or educational forums like the one hosted by Mainstream and our partners on Oct 13. There are valid reasons to look at the performance of each Justice and Judge when determining whether they should be retained or not, but Mainstream is taking the position of RETAIN ALL for the KS Supreme Court Justices for these reasons:

• Kansans consistently vote to retain KS Supreme Court Justices. To refuse a sitting Justice another term on the bench would a major disruption to the Court and opens it up to partisan attacks rather than apolitical merit selection.
• An empty seat will be filled by the next KS Governor, who could be Attorney General Derek Schmidt. He loudly supported the so-called "Value Them Both" amendment and, though he has publicly claimed to support the will of the people after the Aug 2nd vote, has a long history of anti-abortion legal action that casts no doubt about what type of Justice he would select.
• Justices are free of partisan elections and prevented from campaigning for selection or retainment, which should mean that they are not beholden to any outside influence or party. In recent years we’ve seen several controversial Supreme Court cases with dissents that suggest the partisan leanings of our Justices, but this does not undermine our current process for selecting and retaining Supreme Court Justices, though this too is something that Attorney General Candidate Kris Kobach and our KS Legislature would see change. Retaining our Justices shows support for our current process of merit based selection.

As we get closer to the Nov 8 election, make sure you’re registered to vote (the deadline is Oct 18!), review your ballot and candidates, and request your advance ballot! Check out Mainstream Coalition Election Resources for more information, and remember to vote to RETAIN ALL Supreme Court Justices.

YOU’RE INVITED:

Join Mainstream and our partners for a nonpartisan, educational opportunity to hear from Chief Justice Marla Luckert, Justice Evelyn Wilson, and Justice Melissa Taylor Standridge of the Kansas Supreme Court and learn more about the retention vote on November 8th. This in-person event will also be live-streamed for those unable to attend in-person. If you select to view online, you will be sent a link to access the event before Oct 13th. 

REGISTER

Hosted by: JCCC’s PELA (Political Engagement and Leadership Alliance) Student Organization, Loud Light, Kansas Interfaith Action, Mainstream Coalition, League of Women Voters of Johnson County, League of Women Voters of Lawrence-Douglas County, and League of Women Voters of Wichita-Metro.