“We also are looking at this situation in the context of the judicial retention election where the five of the seven justices of the Supreme Court are up for retention,” said Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat who sits on the House Judiciary Committee. “This is part of a continuing effort to intimidate the courts by threatening their jobs, by threatening their authority, by threatening their funding.

“And it’s very unfortunate that many of my Republican colleagues and my old law school classmate, the governor, apparently do not respect the rule of law and think the courts will succumb to these types of tactics. And I’m confident that our court will not.”

http://www.hdnews.net/news/local/kansas-lawmakers-will-discuss-constitutional-amendment-aimed-at-court-next/article_0c995409-d79a-593a-8728-91ca50c2e24e.html

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said if Republicans don’t want the court to be able to rule on school finance, they should bring an amendment “to eliminate the requirement of a suitable education for Kansas schoolchildren.”

“If that’s really what the voters of this state and the citizens of the state believe is a good idea, then that’s what they need to bring, simply to say, ‘We don’t have to adequately fund our schools and it’s not a constitutional requirement in Kansas,’” Carmichael said. “Now, I don’t think that’s the state that any of us want to live in.”

 

…

 

Carmichael predicted the proposal would fall short of the 84 votes needed to pass in the House, pointing out that an attempt to change the way Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected fell short of the minimum votes needed earlier this year.

The proposal’s real intent is to serve as “political theater and a sideshow to try and distract voters from the real crisis in Kansas,” Carmichael said.

http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article82765242.html

“If the governor fails to call a special session, than we need to have the wheels in motion,” said Rep. John Carmichael, (D) Wichita.

…Democrats say they know the petition may not be needed but, given the time limit lawmakers are facing, add it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“If the governor does in fact call the special session, than no harm, no foul, quite frankly,” said Carmichael.

http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Lawmakers-want-special-section-to-fix-school-funding-381927621.html