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Battle lines drawn over retention of Supreme Court justices

kansas supreme court
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A group upset over a Kansas Supreme Court ruling involving two Wichita brothers convicted of killing four people has begun a push to oust four of five justices up for retention in November.

Meanwhile the judges and lawyers who took part in a retention survey gave strong backing to four of the justices, but gave only lukewarm support for the lone justice picked by Gov. Sam Brownback.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the group Kansans for Justice is urging voters to cast ballots against retaining Lawton Nuss, Marla Luckert, Carol Beier and Dan Biles. The group supports retaining Gov. Sam Brownback’s only selection, Caleb Stegall, who came onto the court after the Carr brothers ruling.

The nonpartisan Judicial Evaluation Committee released performance assessments that show at least 74 percent of lawyers and 75 percent of judges “strongly” recommended retaining those four justices. Only 39 percent of lawyers and 54 percent of judges strongly supported retention of Justice Caleb Stegal, appointed by Brownback in 2014. Conversely, 31 percent of lawyers and 7 percent of judges felt strongly that he should be voted off the bench.

The Carr brothers were sentenced to death for the December 2000 shootings of five people at a soccer complex, killing four. The Kansas Supreme Court vacated the death sentences in 2014 after ruling their constitutional rights had been infringed upon, but the U.S. Supreme Court later reversed the decision.

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