Friday, May. 09, 2008

Sealed documents abused public's trust

The Kansas Supreme Court unsealed several documents pertaining to the legal wrangling between Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline and Planned Parenthood. We wonder why the court sealed them in the first place?

It does answer the question of why Kline was out of the office sometimes during the first part of his tenure. He spent a lot of time defending himself in Topeka.

It also raises questions about Kline, former attorney general Paul Morrison, Planned Parenthood and the court’s actions in the case, but there’s little, if anything, within the documents that warrant secrecy. Sealing the documents was a gross abuse of the public trust, and the court should unseal all documents regarding legal proceedings in the matter.

It does shed light on how the court system can be abused to obtain a particular outcome. It also shows that the criminal case against Planned Parenthood may never make it before a jury. How? Attorneys can bog down this case to the point that Kline will be out of office before it’s resolved. And maybe that’s the strategy. Then Planned Parenthood attorneys will make a deal for lesser charges or court dismissal when a new district attorney takes office.

The records do show that there is enough cause to warrant Kline’s independent investigation of Morrison. Linda Carter, a former administrator in the district attorney’s office with whom Morrison admitted to having affair, is listed as a witness in the documents and her testimony pertains to Morrison allegedly trying to influence her or use her as a information source in the lawsuit eight fired employees filed against Kline and other legal matters after Kline took office.

There also are questions about how evidence — particularly the records Kline “had in his possession” — were transferred from place to place after Kline left the office of attorney general and before he took office as district attorney.

This would have been pertinent information for the public. The records should have been public from the beginning. The court made the wrong decision to seal these records and conduct closed proceedings.

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