Three court rulings not final word on issues
Last week brought rulings of keen interest in Wichita and Kansas from the highest courts in the nation and the state on some of the most crucial issues of the day, from abortion to the death penalty to the drug war.
First came the U.S. Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision Wednesday overturning the Kansas Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling vacating the death sentences of Wichita spree killers Jonathan and Reginald Carr and Great Bend double murderer Sidney Gleason. The ruling hands the cases back to the state Supreme Court and leaves more appeal phases to go. But it’s a welcome relief that the families and survivors will not have to endure resentencing proceedings. Nor will our community – now linked to the Carrs’ 2000 crimes in what is popularly known elsewhere as “the Wichita massacre” – have to see a re-examination of the “acts of almost inconceivable cruelty and depravity” that Justice Antonin Scalia’s decision described in excruciating detail.
Friday brought the state Supreme Court’s decision striking down Wichitans’ ballot initiative lessening penalties for marijuana possession and the Kansas Court of Appeals’ split ruling further delaying implementation of a first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester abortion method.
To their understandable frustration, the Wichita activists who tried to do everything right – twice – to get the marijuana reform question on last April’s ballot saw the state Supreme Court throw out the vote over a petition filing technicality. Better city guidance might have spared them that stumble. The court’s ruling didn’t answer the question of whether Wichita could have lower penalties for marijuana possession than the state. But Wichita voters’ 54 percent approval of the ordinance stands as a strong public endorsement of efforts to reduce penalties for pot possession or otherwise pursue reforms, including the ongoing consideration in Topeka of a House-passed bill that also would authorize hemp treatments for seizure disorders and save the state $1.4 million a year and nearly 450 felony cases.
Meanwhile, the historic 7-7 abortion ruling puts half the Court of Appeals on record as agreeing with the Shawnee County District Court that the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights provides a right to abortion. It also keeps on hold the 2015 ban on the dilation and evacuation procedure and assures state Supreme Court consideration of the case – and additional legal bills for taxpayers, unfortunately.
None of the three decisions was the last word – a frustration for those looking for certainty. Some will be political fodder, like it or not. But together the week’s big rulings underscored how essential the appellate courts are to breaking impasses and ensuring accountability. They don’t aim to please, just uphold the Constitution and rule of law.
This story was originally published January 23, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Three court rulings not final word on issues."