After 14 months of unjust legal attacks against Phill Kline by Planned Parenthood and the Attorney General's office -- proceedings kept hidden by the state Supreme Court-- documents were unsealed and oral arguments were heard June 12.  The focus was on the status of criminal evidence of illegal abortions and falsified documents from Planned Parenthood.

Gov. Sebelius' hand-picked Attorney General, Stephen Six, did not show up at the Supreme Court to defend why his office stubbornly continued a partnership with criminal defendant Planned Parenthood.  That partnering began with his predecessor, Paul Morrison, who issued an exoneration letter to Planned Parenthood in June 2007 and then sued Johnson County prosecutor Kline!

But perhaps Six's absence at the Supreme Court shouldn't be surprising, considering what an embarrassing lack of legal arguments were used to justify the demand that Kline give away evidence of 107 crimes by Planned Parenthood.  Even sleepy Chief Justice Kay McFarland became quite animated, waving her arms and shaking her head with astonishment at the answers given by the Assistant A.G. Mike Leitch, who presented the case.

Leitch argued the Supreme Court 's 2006 "Alpha" decision required all abortion files to be returned to the Attorney General at the close of the Inquisition (a specific kind of investigation).  Leitch cited three legal cases against Kline, one dating back to 1880 (remember this the next time someone mocks the grand jury law for being written in 1887!) In the cases, newly elected officials were wrongly denied items by the former office-holders.

But Kline's legal response was that those cases weren't applicable because Kline didn't take something belonging to the Attorney General, he sent evidence to various districts (including his) for prosecution.  The Court was reminded that it was by their decree that Topeka District Judge Richard Anderson became the custodian of the redacted abortion file evidence.  It was because of his position as evidence custodian (ordinarily not a judge's function) that Anderson "kept insisting' the state was not finished using the evidence.  In fact, he had been reminding the Attorney General's office since at least April 2007 that Planned Parenthood abortion records "didn't match up."

April 2007 was also the month Sebelius hosted  a lobster dinner for  notorious abortionist George Tiller, his wife, entire staff, and clergyperson.  The dinner guests celebrated the abortion industry's 2006 election victories with a red t-shirt saying "Trifecta = Sebelius, Parkinson, Morrison."  The governor's dinner came just weeks after pro-lifers rallied at the Capitol, wearing red "Charge Tiller" t-shirts to encourage lawmakers to get Morrison moving on abortion prosecutions.

Beyond claiming that Kline wrongly retained evidence, Planned Parenthood's attorney and Leitch argued that Kline should be held in "contempt of court" for mishandling abortion records.  Kline's rebuttal rests on two important points.  The first point is that Kline has never handled patient files.  He and Judge Anderson have only ever had "working copies", that is, photocopies of forms intensely edited by abortion clinics, two  doctors and an attorney appointed as the legal guardian for the privacy of each patient.  Patient privacy has never been at risk when the evidence consists of working copies without any personally-identifying information.

The second point is that a contempt charge rests on showing a rule was broken.  But all parties admitted there are no rules for handling this evidence!  The handling of the working copies, while undoubtedly unusual, was created by a unique set of circumstances:  1) the hostility lingering after the exchange of jobs between political enemies Morrison and Kline; and 2) Morrison's efforts to drop abortion prosecutions, even to the extent of allegedly coercing his mistress (Kline's assistant) for secret information on several lawsuits.

After his January 2007 inauguration, Morrison ignored Judge Anderson's plea that both sides co-operate on joint prosecutions.  When Kline's deputy attempted to visit Morrison about the abortion cases, Morrison cursed him and tossed him out of his office!  Current Attorney General Six remains partnered with abortionists against Kline, suing law enforcement, and delegating the premier duties of his office to junior staff.  Neither Attorney General wanted abortionists to ever go to trial. If anybody should be held in contempt--in the common meaning of the word-- it is the Kansas A.G.'s office.