It is a convoluted series of events in which the governor of Kansas has threatened the Kansas Supreme Court with no funding. It started when the Kansas Supreme Court found that the state’s funding of education was so inadequate as to violate the state Constitution. Gov.Brownback then sought and obtained a statute that would remove from the Kansas Supreme Court the power to select chief judges for the state district courts. The Kansas legislature passed that statute in 2014 giving the lower to select chief judges to the governor. The chief judges have authority over hiring, budgets and case assignments. Gov. Brownback has warned the state Supreme Court that if it rules the 2014 statute unconstitutional, then he will deny any funding to the state Supreme Court. That would be like Congress de-funding the U.S. Supreme Court because it issues a ruling with which Congress disagrees.

Amazing. It is not often that a politician goes after a state Supreme Court for differences in Constitutional interpretation. Can anyone say banana republic?