Judge dismisses Kansas lawmaker’s lawsuit against former Star columnist Steve Rose

A judge has dismissed Kansas Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning’s defamation lawsuit against former Kansas City Star contributing columnist Steve Rose — ending the Republican official’s legal fight over a column about his views on Medicaid expansion.

The Overland Park lawmaker sued the newspaper and then-contributing columnist Steve Rose in January. But on Tuesday, Johnson County District Court Judge Paul Gurney tossed the suit against Rose.

The dismissal followed Gurney’s decision in early July to dismiss similar claims against The Star.

Denning had alleged Rose and the newspaper defamed him in a column about his opposition to Medicaid expansion. Denning said Rose had attributed statements to him that he had not made and maintained that he had not met with Rose in two years.

Gurney ruled that the column’s statements about Denning were either substantially true or couldn’t have damaged his reputation because he’s publicly said he’s opposed to Medicaid expansion, said Bernie Rhodes, an attorney representing The Star.

“The judge noted … that Steve had written many columns about Denning, some positive, some negative, some neutral. And the judge said there’s no evidence here of a vendetta, either personal or political or any other type of evidence to show Steve Rose was out to get Sen. Denning,” Rhodes said.

Rose’s attorney, Eric Weslander, said Rose felt vindicated by the decision.

“This is a huge victory for Steve Rose and for freedom of speech and for freedom of the press in Kansas,” Weslander said.

The lawsuit had brought a spotlight to Denning’s views about Medicaid expansion — one of the most contentious issues among Kansas lawmakers.

This spring, Denning voted “pass” on an expansion and committed to bringing a Medicaid bill to the Senate floor in 2020. Rose’s January column said Denning had “finally confessed” to him his reasons for opposing expansion.

Denning said the two had not met since August 2016 and hadn’t spoken since November 2017.

In a statement after the ruling, Denning said Rose misled readers.

“We are disappointed with Judge Gurney’s ruling. Rose has over 50 years of experience as a journalist. He knows better,” Denning said.

Gurney dismissed Denning’s claims against Rose and The Star under Kansas’ public speech protection act. The law was approved unanimously in 2016 by the Legislature — including by Denning — in an effort to limit suits over speech.

As the lawsuit progressed, The Star’s attorney accused Denning’s attorney, Michael Kuckelman, of using the suit to promote his ultimately successful bid to chair the Kansas Republican Party. Kuckelman said Tuesday in a statement that the media must be held accountable and should be a source the people can trust.

The judge ordered Denning to pay Rose’s attorney’s fees. It wasn’t immediately clear how much that would be, though when the judge previously ordered Denning to pay The Star’s attorney’s fees, the amount was estimated at $40,000.

This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 4:52 PM.