Former Kansas Attorney General and current Liberty University law professor Phill Kline is now indefinitely suspended from the practice of law due to his investigation of abortion clinics run by the late George Tiller and by Planned Parenthood. Tiller was murdered in 2009 while attending church in Wichita with his wife. While opting not to disbar Kline, the Kansas Supreme Court found “clear and convincing evidence” of professional misconduct (including the violation of 11 rules) to warrant indefinite suspension.
Kline must wait three years to re-apply for the right to practice.
The court cited three aggravating factors to support the indefinite suspension: selfish motive, a pattern of misconduct and a refusal to acknowledge the wrongful nature of any misconduct. However, the court also found mitigating factors like cooperation with the proceedings and a lack of prior discipline.
Kline quickly became a polarizing figures in Kansas in his pursuit of abortion providers and other priorities viewed as highly ideological. He accused Planned Parenthood and Tiller of violating state abortion law and covering for pedophiles by not reporting pregnancies of underage girls. He was accused not only by Tiller of abuse but by the forewoman of the grand jury. The complaint included allegations of misleading judges and mishandling evidence detailed in a 154-page report.
Kline’s policy with regard to any girls under 16 seeking an abortion was quite extreme — assuming all were injured victims requiring reporting and investigation. His successor narrowed that policy. He was also accused of failing to properly advise a grand jury about applicable law, giving false and misleading information to judges about the handling of patient medical records from abortion clinics and instructing his staff to attach sealed documents to a public filing in violation of a court order.
Kline was viewed as the hammer of the religious right in the state. This was evident in his defense of Kansas law which provided substantially higher punishments for homosexual statutory rape compared to heterosexual rapes. Amazingly, however, Kansas trial court upheld the law as did the Kansas Court of Appeals. The Kansas Supreme Court then declined to hear the case in a complete failure of the state court system in the case of Matthew Limon, a mentally ill man convicted under the law. The case was then remanded in light of the in Lawrence v. Texas, which held that a similar Texas law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Nevertheless, Kline’s office continued to fight for the law and again the court of appeals upheld the conviction. That is truly unbelievable. Finally, however, the Kansas Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2005. Notably, such actions cannot be viewed as a disciplinary matter when so many judges signed off on upholding the law despite its clearly discriminatory impact on gays and lesbians. It is an indictment of the judicial branch of that state, particularly the opinion following the remand after Lawrence.
Liberty University is a Christian institution that teaches law from a religious perspective. His bio at the law school appears to both lament and celebrate his polarizing work on abortion. It notably does not mention the bar proceedings against him and has not been updated to note that, among his notable accomplishments, is the rare decision to indefinitely suspend him from the practice of law. The bio includes the following statement:
Aside from these accomplishments, almost all media attention regarding Kline has focused on abortion. His efforts have led the national abortion industry to pour millions of dollars into Kansas to attack and vilify him. Through it all, he continued to fight to enforce Kansas law and hold all accountable under the law. His leadership, as written by columnist Bob Novak, opened a new front on the abortion wars and placed Kansas in the epicenter of the current battle over the sanctity of human life.
His subjects include “Lawyering skills” which would seem a bit awkward given the report below.
Ross 1, October 21, 2013 at 10:09 am
What exactly are the guidelines for censorship by this website? Can’t play by the rules if they are secret!
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It is a dart board thingy where the dart is thrown and if it lands on your comment it goes into the fondling Que.
Another vote for disbarment.
Thanks for the link, lottakatz. From the article:
” “It is apparent that Kline and/or Anderson have failed to maintain the medical records without specific protections in place to protect the privacy of patients,” the clinics said in their petition.
The clinic said they want the Supreme Court to intervene because they don’t know how O’Reilly obtained his information and a leak could have occurred in “either the judicial or executive branch of the government.” The clinics’ petition accused Kline of having a “cavalier attitude.”
The clinics noted that Kline has joked about the criticism that his pursuit of the records invaded women’s privacy.
During a GOP rally Sunday night in Topeka, Kline provoked laughter from thousands of Republicans when he said, “You know, it’s great to see all of you in such good health, but, of course, I already knew that. I’ve seen all of your medical records.” ” (February 11, 2009)
Holmes (first poster), don’t be dishonest. Anti-liberty University IS run by christ-stains, whether you like to admit it or not. They believe the fiction of jeezus and claim to follow “him”. That’s the only definition of what a christian is, not whether you agree with them.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/christian
What exactly are the guidelines for censorship by this website? Can’t play by the rules if they are secret!
He should have been disbarred IMO.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-250_162-2157483.html
“Bill O’Reilly In Abortion Record Tangle
Two abortion clinics asked the state’s highest court Monday to investigate Attorney General Phill Kline and Fox television’s Bill O’Reilly over O’Reilly’s statements that he had obtained information from Kansas abortion records.”
They should have charged Kline with stochastic terrorism, the attempt to incite “lone wolves” to commit violence.
George Tiller and Gabrielle Giffords can tell you all you need to know about stochastic terrorism. It doesn’t require much to get the mentally disturbed and fanatically religious (but I repeat myself) to commit violence.
Kline makes a good case for retroactive birth control. That he has supporters and a current employer speaks volumes about the (lack of) moral character of his supporters and current employer.
One of the physicians from Dr. Tiller’s clinic lost her license to practice medicine because of his shenanigans. Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus is currently living in abject poverty after Kline tricked her into handing over medical records. He said he would give them right back to her, but instead Bill O’Reilly got them. Dr. Neuhaus deliberately kept patient information vague because she feared they might be accessed by people like Kline, but the state medical board gigged her for their vagueness. The medical board could not give any examples of any other doctor who had lost a license or been disciplined for how vague their records were. The fallout in Kansas continues to ruin lives. The story of Dr. Neuhaus misadventures is at the link.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/16/ann-kristin-neuhaus_n_3756876.html
Liberty University was founded by Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority. He also sat at the right hand of Reagan, for whom he worked tirelessly to get elected. This was the organization that created the enormous data bases pilfered from the financial donators to the Liberty University and the Moral Majority, used to elect right wing candidates. These politicians were also registered in a data base and graded according to how deeply they hated abortion rights. And of course, those who ranked as Liberals, they were targeted and defeated, not because of their governing credentials but on the single issue of Freedom to choose.
All defeated, Including Frank Church, D Idaho – George McGovern, D Dakota – Birch Bayh, D. Indiana – Herman Talmadge, D Georgia – Warren Magnuson, D Washington – Gaylord Nelson, D Wisconsin – John Culver D Iowa – John Derkin, D New Hampshire – Robert Morgan, D North Carolina! All too liberal for the Moral Majority, they were sent packing because they wouldn’t denounce a women’s right to choose an abortion! Abortion was THE issue that put Reagan in the WH. With the new technology and the imposition of their interpretation of Christianity!
All of these Senators were remarkable men who served with intelligence, ethics, honesty, and candor. They were all Democrats. They were all denounced by Falwell and the Moral Majority and were defeated because the powers that be, had the political machine and wanted a nation of right wing Christians in positions of power! This was their solution to make America a great nation again and they convinced American voters they would not get into heaven if they voted in spite of religion. They were all convinced to choose sides, in my opinion, against democracy!
Magginkat, If you want to make a substantive statement against Kansas, go gluten free.
I guess this fool is a prime example of “What’s Wrong With Kansas”.
This guy was voted out of the AG post and also the Johnson County DA post. That’s why he’s teaching out of state, he’s a pariah to the Republican party.
The victory was somewhat hollow. These folks did not want to work for this ideologue. He did have authority to terminate and fire his staff, but he had cast a shadow over their careers. As part of the settlement, all employees received letters from Kline stating their termination was political and not based on performance. This guy cost the taxpayers a lot of money. He is bad.
MikeS, You can easily verify this anecdote before calling me a liar. I’ve just been around, dude.
Phil Kline is well known in the Kansas City area. Kline was also the Johnson County DA. Johnson County is a highly populated KC suburb. Kline fired assistant DA’s and the DA’s investigator w/ no cause. The employees hired on of the best employment attorneys in the area, Joe Colantuono. Joe was a public defender that I worked opposite, and a superb trial attorney. The employees won. Kline is a loose cannon and a great example of the problems when the law and ideologues mix.
Nationwide, but especially these regions, need “education” in American Civics.
Former Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, founded http://www.iCivics.org due to the crisis in civics education and the concept/mechanics of American government.
If teachers and parents don’t teach our next generation how to interpret things – somebody else with ulterior motives will teach them! Longterm this is the real solution.
So this guy is teaching them law. They are teaching young-earth creationism as established fact. How exactly does Liberty maintain any accreditation? I wouldn’t even bother to call a job application with Liberty listed as their judgement and education are already called into question.
The article had me confused, thinking that Liberty University was stuck out in Kansas with Toto. But no, Liberty University is in Virginia. Google directed me to a big web-AD for the place with sports and all configured on the front page. Christ this and football that. So now the guy is a teacher or a preacher. Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach or preach. Those who can’t preach or teach, teach and preach to teachers. Toto misses him in Kansas, as does Dorothy and The Wizard.
The zealot corps …
Sometimes figurers lie…..
Just because an institution identifies itself as “Christian” doesn’t make it so. There is nothing Christ like about Liberty University or its policies.
Interesting a 154 page report on lawyer misconduct by an AG yet only an indefinate suspension. What would a lawyer have to to to get disbarred? Be pro choice?