AP) — A Kansas prosecutor says he’s planning to retry a capital murder suspect rather than ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the man’s convictions for killing two women in Topeka.

The Kansas Supreme Court overturned Phillip Cheatham Jr.’s convictions in January, finding that his lawyer did a poor job at his 2005 trial.

Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor announced Tuesday his conclusion that it would be “ill-advised” to appeal the state court’s ruling.

Cheatham was sentenced to die for the 2003 shooting deaths of two women at a Topeka duplex. He was also convicted of lesser charges for wounding a third woman.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today introduced two bills to protect the economy from misguided regulations by requiring cost benefit analysis and further measures to inform the public about proposed regulations and their consequences.

“After speaking with many Kansans about the effects of misguided federal regulations on their businesses and communities, we examined the process of issuing regulations and determined that many of the most egregious regulations can be avoided if a simple cost benefit analysis is done. I think most Americans are shocked to learn that this is not already required.”

Roberts’ first bill, The Restoring Honesty for our Economy Act, requires agency heads to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a cost benefit analysis on regulations that are deemed “economically significant.” Economically significant regulations adversely affect the economy or have an effect of $100 million or more. Under Roberts’ bill, regulations may not be finalized until this information is included. Bill text here.

Roberts’ second bill, The Restoring Integrity to our Government Act, takes it one step further and requires agencies to enumerate the reasons for a declaring a regulation significant. Bill text here.

“In hearing after hearing and meeting after meeting,” Roberts said. “I will ask the Administration why a regulation is significant, and they can’t tell me. Then my question is always, ‘well, why do we need it then?’ If they are proposing the regulation, we need to know the impact and the unintended consequences in the real world.”

According to the President’s Executive Order 12866, a regulation is deemed “significant” by the following four criteria:

having an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more in any one year, or adversely and materially affecting a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, local or tribal governments or communities (also referred to as “economically significant”);
creating a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfering with an action taken or planned by another agency;
materially altering the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or
raising novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President’s priorities, or the principles set forth in the Executive Order.

Roberts’ bill requires agencies to inform OMB the reasons a regulation meets one or more of these criteria.

These bills are the latest effort by Roberts to eliminate regulations that harm the economy and slow economic growth. Senator Roberts is an outspoken advocate for the elimination of ridiculous and burdensome regulations issued by the agenda driven Obama Administration. From the School Lunch Program to healthcare, Roberts has fought this executive overreach and won. He has also introduced legislation, S. 191, the Regulatory Responsibility for our Economy Act to put the power of law behind the President’s widely touted, but largely ignored, executive order directing federal agencies to review their regulations ensuring they cause no harm to the economy or job creation. This bill has 35 cosponsors. Roberts has also introduced a bill to end costly and excessive regulation at the EPA, S. 175.

Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

A Longton Kansas man was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years under Jessica’s Law, after being convicted on charges of child sex crimes, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.

In November 2012, an Elk County jury convicted James William VanRoyen, 27, of nine counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, one count of aggravated criminal sodomy, one count of criminal sodomy, one count of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, one count of indecent solicitation of a child and three counts of sexual battery.

District Judge Michael E. Ward handed down the sentence in Elk County District Court.

The crimes were committed between November 2006 and November 2011 against three victims. The charges stemmed from an investigation by the Elk County Sheriff’s Office. Sunlight Child Advocacy Center in El Dorado conducted forensic interviews of the victims. Assistant Attorney General Lee J. Davidson of Schmidt’s office and Elk County Attorney Kimberly B. King prosecuted the case.

 

Closet Classic ~ Rock Archive

Ozzy Osbourne
Flyin’ High Again

 

 

 

Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) held a bipartisan press conference, along with his Protect Our Skies Act cosponsor Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), on the handling of Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) disproportionate sequestration cuts. He addressed the Obama Administration’s short-sighted decisions to close 149 FAA Contract Control Towers and furlough air traffic controllers, and stated that politics is playing a significant role. Highlights of Sen. Moran’s remarks can be found below, along with links to download and satellite coordinates:

Sen. Moran: “I think the Administration does have the flexibility to make decisions about prioritizing spending within the FAA and the Department of Transportation, but if they do not – the surprising thing to me is that this President doesn’t even ask for the ability to reestablish the priorities.”

Sen. Moran: “There was satisfactory explanation as to why the Administration opposed our amendment, and it certainly has led to the speculation by many – Republicans and Democrats – that there is an effort afoot to try to demonstrate that sequestration is something that is so painful it cannot be accomplished without dramatic consequences… I didn’t vote for sequestration…I’m not here to defend the process that we’re going through as far as sequestration – I am here to say there is a better response by an administration than the one we’ve seen.

Sen. Moran: “If the Administration is trying to make the political point that sequestration is difficult to accomplish – that it’s very damaging to the public, to the American citizen – this is not a place to make that point. Let’s have the debate about sequestration, let’s have the conversation about whether or not we can afford a reduction in the growth in spending, but let’s not put those who travel in this country’s safety at risk to prove that political point. To me, it certainly seems as if politics is playing a significant role in determining what actions the FAA is taking – and every indication I have from conversations with my colleagues is that it emanates from the White House.”