Judge backs Tiller probe / LJWorld.com

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Judge backs Tiller probe

November 20, 2007

Topeka — A lower court judge has told the Kansas Supreme Court that a proposed grand jury investigation into abortion provider Dr. George Tiller should be allowed to proceed.

Michael Corrigan, chief judge of the 18th judicial district, described one of Tiller's reasons for trying to block the Sedgwick County grand jury as "absurd."

Tiller, of Wichita, argued that a petition drive used to call the panel represented harassment by anti-abortion groups that simply wanted to further their political agenda.

Abortion groups say Tiller has provided illegal late-term abortions, while Tiller has said he has complied with the law and been cleared in previous investigations.

The Kansas Supreme Court put the issue on hold until it could hear arguments in the matter.

In a filing with the court made available Monday, Corrigan stated that Tiller can't stop a grand jury before it starts. It would be like trying to stop elections of officials who may pursue Tiller, the judge said.

"Just as a demand that there be no district attorney or no attorney general is absurd, it is absurd for any citizen to demand that no grand jury be summoned," Corrigan said in a legal brief written by Topeka attorney David Cooper.

Corrigan also argued that Tiller can't stop a grand jury into looking into issues because no allegation has been made by the panel.

"One cannot challenge an indictment which has not yet, and may never be, issued by a grand jury," he argued.

Tiller's legal team also has claimed that those seeking the petition have illegally distributed private medical records of women who had abortions. Corrigan said if that is true, that "may well become the subject of investigation by the grand jury."

The grand jury originally was scheduled to be impaneled last month but has been held up because the state Supreme Court wanted to consider Tiller's arguments.

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tjayhawk (anonymous) says…

Looks like Tiller has something to hide. If indeed he is not performing late-term abortions as he says, then why is he fighting the grand jury so hard?
November 20, 2007 at 11:46 a.m.
Confrontation (anonymous) says…

If you were being charged with something you didn't do, then you'd be fighting this hard, too.
November 20, 2007 at 12:28 p.m.
Wilbur_Nether (anonymous) says…

tjayhawk might have easily have written "people who are innocent defend themselves vigorously." Tiller gets presumption of innocence in our legal system, tjayhawk. We can't hold the fact that he is (or is not) responding to the charges as evidence that he is (or is not) guilty.

We tried it that way once, then explained to our parent country that we didn't much care for it here.
November 20, 2007 at 1:03 p.m.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…

Editorial in the "Wichita Eagle," posted on Wed, Oct. 31, 2007

***** State GOP moving away from far right *****

The Kansas Republican Party is sending a strong message to far-right abortion activists, including Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline: Don't expect us to carry your flag any longer. It's part of a conscious effort to reach out to GOP moderates and independents, a smart move that could boost the party's chances in 2008 elections.

Kansas GOP executive director Christian Morgan received an e-mail last week from Cheryl Sullenger, an anti-abortion activist with Operation Rescue. She criticized state party officials for not getting involved in Kline's legal crusade against Planned Parenthood, saying they "need to be more relevant."

Morgan's e-mail response is significant and signals a party shift to the center: "My job is to win elections and help all Republicans in Kansas. Your agenda does not fit my agenda."

Morgan wrote that two hot congressional campaigns next year, against incumbent Democrats Dennis Moore and Nancy Boyda, "can really be won if run the correct way -- and getting out front on this (abortion) issue is not the way to win it."

Morgan added: "Like it or not, the Republican Party is made up of many different 'kinds' of Republican -- and some of our great Republicans in the party right now do not share your views."

In short, he wants a bigger tent.

In a phone interview with The Eagle editorial board, Morgan stressed that he and other party leaders are pro-life, and fighting abortion would remain an important part of the Kansas party's platform. But he said that Kline's controversial appointment to the Johnson County district attorney office "has hurt the party," at least in Johnson County, by dividing Republican voters.

[continued below]
November 20, 2007 at 2:12 p.m.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…

As for making abortion a centerpiece issue, "We've already lost the argument -- that happened in the 2006 attorney general race," he said of Kline's crushing defeat by Paul Morrison. The voters, he said, sent a message that they didn't want that kind of heavy-handed, narrow focus on abortion.

"I'm trying to change the image of the Kansas Republican Party and keep it from getting bogged down in one or two issues," he said.

For her part, Sullenger told the editorial board that Morgan and other state party officials are making a big mistake. "Social issues are what motivates the grass roots" of the party, she argued. As for attracting moderates back to the party: "Good riddance to them," she said. "Those people were pulling the party down anyway."

But as Morgan listens to Republicans now, he said he's hearing concerns about government fiscal discipline and spending, immigration enforcement and other core GOP economic and law-and-order issues.

[continued from above]

People want to elect representatives, he said, "who will get things done" and take a pragmatic approach to issues. By distancing the Kansas GOP from some of the extreme-right elements in the party, Morgan hopes to position the party to win the center.

That's where most elections are won.

***** For the editorial board, Randy Scholfield *****

http://www.kansas.com/611/story/21440...
November 20, 2007 at 2:13 p.m.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…

Interesting analysis, Uranus. Could one just as easily surmise that with Phill Kline's long, slow downfall... that your "God" doesn't take kindly to twisting justice and kangaroo courts, either? Maybe God believes, deep down, that two "wrongs" don't make a "right?"

If a liberal is pro-death... and you're a conservative/Republican... and you *favor* the war in Iraq, where people are killed on many sides, including ours... then how does that not make ***you*** "pro-death?" Or are you somehow granted--through divine intervention and/or political ideology--a different standard that the rest of your fellow men?

Our Creator has warned us about folks like you, that's for sure. Matthew 6:1-8

Or... pick one that suits you...

http://www.euro-tongil.org/ws/theme063

Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
http://www.uscentrist.org
http://www.americanplan.org
November 20, 2007 at 2:57 p.m.