The Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct mostly conducts its proceedings in secret, writes Clay Wirestone, which makes it look as though judges are protecting themselves from public scrutiny. (Getty Images)
Powerful institutions want to retain their power .
That’s as close to a truism as you can get in modern society. Almost no institution willingly gives away the influence and sway it has accumulated over decades or centuries.
Such apparently is the case with the Kansas court system, which we learned over the weekend — thanks to reporting from Kansas Reflector editor Sherman Smith — leaves judicial discipline to a secretive panel that keeps most of its deliberations under wraps. Exactly how the Commission on Judicial Conduct should be revamped or reconstituted, I’m not sure. But reading Smith’s story, you cannot help but come away feeling like a grave injustice has been committed by those who claim to administer justice.
In short, former Montgomery County prosecutor Lisa Montgomery said at a county commission meeting that Judge Jeffrey Gettler created a “hostile work environment” for her employees. Because she happened to be running for a judgeship at the time, the judge complained about her to the judicial conduct panel. The panel upheld his complaint and reprimanded Montgomery in June. (Gettler denies all wrongdoing.)