Say what you will about Douglas County District Judge Paula Martin’s sentencing record, she’s never been accused of threatening to burn down the home of the district attorney.

Or of showing off a handgun in her chambers, trying to fix a traffic ticket for a friend, or making a mess of the court’s finances.

Those allegations and more were raised in the only successful effort in Kansas to vote a district judge out of office: the 1980 campaign against Lyon County District Judge R.E. “Dick” Miller.

Nearly 75 percent of voters voted to oust Miller after a widespread community effort against him, according to news articles from the era and interviews with those who remember.

“I would say that a lack of judicial demeanor would be the most charitable thing I would want to say — and probably ought to say — about him,” said Marc Hurt, 71, Olathe. Hurt is an attorney who managed the campaign against Miller.

“I ended up getting a committee of about 100 people. They included the publisher of the Emporia Gazette, the owner of the radio station, the mayor of Emporia, the president of the Chamber of Commerce. We had this fantastic organization.”

Attorneys’ voices

Martin has been criticized for breaking from state sentencing guidelines and granting probation, 60 days in jail and community service to three defendants charged in the statutory rape of an intoxicated 13-year-old girl. Sentencing guidelines say all varieties of rape, including statutory rape, are punishable by at least 13 years in prison unless a judge finds “substantial and compelling reasons” to give a lesser sentence.

The Justice for Children Committee, a group made up largely of concerned parents, also has criticized Martin for being reversed eight times on appeal, more than any other local judge, and questioned her decisions to give probation or low bond in other criminal cases.

Marc Hurt, Olathe, displays an old newspaper photo of himself speaking out against former Lyon County District Judge R.E. Miller, whom Hurt helped vote off the bench in 1980. It was the state's only successful campaign to vote a district judge out of office.

Martin’s supporters say she’s a fair judge who made a tough decision in the rape case, and they accuse the anti-Martin group of distorting facts from her record.

Many of Martin’s defenders are local attorneys. By contrast, a majority of the attorneys in Lyon County were opposed to Judge Miller, said Don Krueger, an Emporia attorney who was involved in the 1980 campaign.

“I knew that if we didn’t get him, I was going to have to leave Emporia,” Krueger said. “How could you practice in front of someone like that after you put your career on the line?”

The movement against Miller was called “Concerned Citizens for Better Courts.” The judge’s supporters alleged the effort was “directed by a couple of disgruntled attorneys and by a few special interest groups,” according to a story in the Kansas City Times.

Miller was elected judge in 1972, but in the mid-1970s, Lyon County, like many other parts of the state, moved to a system of appointed judges who are up for retention every four years.

Miller’s missteps

The events leading up to Miller’s removal brewed during roughly a three-year period, Hurt and others said:

• Miller was publicly censured in 1977 by the Kansas Supreme Court based on findings by a state judicial commission that found that in July 1976, Miller approached the county and probate judge, and in the presence of court personnel, asked the judge if he would dismiss a traffic ticket for a friend. The report alleged Miller walked out of the office and said, “Well, I guess that that is one favor I don’t owe you.”

Judge’s ouster would be rare (09-29-04) Chat transcript with Karin Drees and Becca Booth, chairwoman of the Justice For Children Committee Chat transcript with Dan Watkins, a leader of the Retain Judge Martin Committee More on the Judge Martin Controversy

• In the months before the election, Krueger challenged Miller over a policy that forbade parents in child-custody disputes access to home-study reports used to determine custody. The Kansas Court of Appeals later reversed Miller’s decision.
• In 1978, auditors found there were deficiencies in Miller’s court finances and found the system for handling payments was “almost totally void of the normally required internal controls.”
• In the campaign for district attorney that year, an opponent of incumbent Jay Vander Velde alleged that Vander Velde failed to act when Miller made a threat to burn down Vander Velde’s home. Vander Velde refused to confirm whether there were such threats and said he knew of “no prosecutable criminal violation committed by any judge” since he began practicing law.

“I think the prosecutors concurred with us” about Miller, Krueger said. “They didn’t do so publicly.”

• Miller was criticized for handing down 90-year sentences to two robbers. According to media reports, the Kansas Supreme Court reduced the sentences in 1977.

Miller supporters responded to that claim by saying the Supreme Court wasn’t necessarily right.

“(M)any of us question the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court regarding prayer in schools and other matters. Our state court certainly is no more infallible than the Federal Courts,” one supporter wrote.

• Several observers, including former Emporia Gazette reporters, told the newspaper at the time that Miller was proud of displaying a gun he kept in his chambers.

Miller, who since has died, was replaced by Gary Rulon, who went on to become chief judge of the Kansas Court of Appeals.

‘Damn difficult’

For the past month, Martin’s opponents have been distributing fliers and sending mailings critical of her record.

In recent days, a group headed by attorney Dan Watkins has responded with fliers of its own and a radio ad by Martin’s father-in-law, broadcaster Max Falkenstien.

Ron Keefover, a spokesman for the state’s judicial branch, said that if a majority voted “no” on the question of Martin’s retention, she would serve until her term expired in January. In the meantime, Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Kay McFarland would declare a vacancy, and a judicial nominating commission would begin taking applications and set a date for conducting interviews.

The commission would send two or three names to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who would make an appointment.

Robert Fairchild, administrative judge in Douglas County District Court, said Wednesday he wasn’t sure how Martin’s cases would be divided should the judge not be retained.

“We haven’t thought about it,” he said. “We haven’t talked about it to this point, obviously hoping that it wasn’t going to be something we had to deal with.”

Attorneys Hurt and Krueger both said they didn’t know Paula Martin personally but were sympathetic to her.

“I’ve practiced criminal law now for 30 years,” Krueger said. “You’re going to find disgruntled people time and time again. But it’s damn difficult, in my opinion, to remove a judge. You really have to have a very intense campaign.”