Kline case costs state $475,000

? The state has paid $475,000 to settle a federal lawsuit prompted by then-Attorney General Phill Kline’s interpretation of a law that he said required authorities to be told about consensual sex by underage youths.

But a spokesman for Kline, now Johnson County district attorney, said the attorney general’s office “rolled over” after Kline left.

Kline continued the case after the Legislature rewrote the law in May 2006, with the changes effective Jan. 1, 2007. He lost his race for re-election as attorney general in November 2006; he became district attorney, but voters rejected his bid Tuesday to keep that job.

Ashley Anstaett, spokeswoman for Attorney General Steve Six, said Thursday the state reached a compromise settlement last week with the Center for Reproductive Rights, in New York, to cover its legal costs from filing and pursuing a federal lawsuit against Kline’s interpretation.

“The settlement of this case limits the state’s exposure to additional costs,” she said. “It was an ill-conceived opinion that caused unnecessary litigation, which cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Bonnie Scott Jones, the center’s attorney in the case, called the settlement “a victory for both women and teenagers.”

“If you suspect any kind of abuse has happened, it must be reported, but this means you don’t have to report consensual sexual contacts or that somebody came in to buy a condom,” she said. “It’s unfortunate when state dollars can be used to grandstand about a position that is clearly unconstitutional.”

But Kline spokesman Brian Burgess said the settlement amounted to “a half-million dollar handout to a pro-choice advocacy group.”

“While it may be politically helpful to claim the case was an effort to keep tabs on every child’s sexual activity, such claims simply aren’t true,” Burgess said. “The opinion by Kline was issued to ensure that cases of suspected child abuse get investigated as they should.”

Anstaett said that when Paul Morrison became attorney general in January 2007, he found the law had been changed in May 2006 and filed a motion to dismiss. Morrison resigned in December 2007 and was replaced by Six.

“They had continued to litigate despite that change,” Anstaett said. “Litigation was ongoing until early 2007 when we filed a motion to dismiss. They hadn’t stopped it.”

But Burgess said the state could have prevailed on appeal.