Office of Judicial Administration

TOPEKA — Justice Lee Johnson, who has served on the Kansas Supreme Court since 2007, announced today he will retire September 8.

Johnson was appointed to the Supreme Court after serving on the Kansas Court of Appeals from 2001 to 2007.

“It has been a profound honor and privilege to be a part of the highest court in Kansas, as well as the Court of Appeals, and to serve with so many knowledgeable and collegial jurists on both appellate courts,” Johnson said. “For that indescribable experience, I particularly thank Governors Bill Graves and Kathleen Sebelius for taking a chance on a small-town lawyer. I will miss having the opportunity to interact with all of the fine people in the judicial branch.”

Before Johnson became a judge, he practiced law in Caldwell and served as city attorney for Caldwell, Argonia, and Hunnewell. He is a graduate of the Washburn University School of Law, where he ranked second in a class of 211.

Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said Supreme Court justices are losing a valued colleague.

“Justice Johnson’s unique, thoughtful perspectives frequently caused his colleagues to re-examine their own legal positions,” Nuss said. “While his fellow justices did not often change their minds, Justice Johnson’s views usually contributed to more-closely reasoned decisions by the court. It’s a real loss for Kansas.”

Johnson’s retirement triggers a merit-based nomination process that Kansans voted to add to the Kansas Constitution in 1958.

When there is a vacancy on the bench, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission reviews applications and conducts public interviews of nominees. The commission narrows the nominee pool to three names that it sends to the governor. The governor chooses one nominee to appoint.

To be eligible, a nominee must be:

• at least 30 years old;
• a lawyer admitted to practice in Kansas and engaged in the practice of law for at least 10 years, whether as a lawyer, judge, or full-time teacher at an accredited law school.

The Supreme Court Nominating Commission has nine members. There is one lawyer and one nonlawyer from each of the state’s four congressional districts, plus one lawyer who serves as chairperson. Nonlawyers are appointed by the governor. Lawyers are elected by other lawyers within their congressional districts. The chairperson is elected by lawyers statewide.

When the Supreme Court Nominating Commission reviews nominees for justice, they look at the person’s:

• legal and judicial experience
• educational background
• character and ethics
• temperament
• service to the community
• impartiality
• respect of colleagues

Justices must follow the law and not be influenced by politics, special interest groups, public opinion, or their own personal beliefs.

Justices demonstrate their accountability by following a Code of Judicial Conduct that establishes standards of ethical behavior. They also take an oath of office that includes swearing to support, protect, and defend the U.S. Constitution and Kansas Constitution.

After a new justice serves one year on the court, he or she must stand for a retention vote in the next general election to remain in the position. If retained, the justice serves a six-year term.

The Supreme Court Nominating Commission is expected to announce its timeline for accepting nominations soon.

WASHINGTON COUNTY — The small town of Linn has been shut down by officials as they clean up from a storm that moved through north-central Kansas on Tuesday evening.

There are reports of downed power lines and utility poles.

According to Washington County Emergency Management, access at all entry points to Linn have been shut down while cleanup efforts take place.

BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — Developers are proposing a $500 million arts-and-entertainment campus in the Kansas City area with housing for students and seniors.

The Kansas City Star reports that the Bonner Springs City Council this week approved a zoning change that developers needed to move ahead with the 180-acre project. It would be near NASCAR’s Kansas Speedway and the Village West shopping district at Interstates 70 and 435.

The campus would include a for-profit college to train people to work in film and television production and engineering, along with housing for its students. Plans also call for independent living, assistant living and a memory care facility for seniors.

The developers said they also plan to have three hotels, a 7,000-seat concert pavilion, a 1,800-seat performing arts center and an arena for competitive video gaming.

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN
Kansas News Service

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Many people figure vaping spares their health because it lets them inhale nicotine in aerosols instead of sucking in smoke from burning cigarettes.

New research from the University of Kansas casts doubt on that, raising the specter that vaping nicotine may cause some of the same respiratory problems that plague and even kill smokers today.

Salathe chairs the Department of Internal Medicine at KU’s School of Medicine, where his lab uses a robot that vapes to test the effects on human cells obtained from deceased lung donors.

The team’s latest research, published last month by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found vaping nicotine damaged the natural ability of those cells to clear out mucus.

That dysfunction leads to chronic bronchitis — and the coughing, shortness of breath and fatigue that come with it. Scientists such as Salathe worry that means the vaping trend sweeping the U.S. could eventually translate into more people developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Commonly caused by smoking, COPD is already a leading cause of death in the United States.

The KU researchers found that the aerosols from nicotine e-cigarettes hurt mucus-clearing abilities in sheep, too. (Sheep were used because of similarities between their respiratory system and that of humans.)

Yet the KU research remains at the pre-clinical phase, meaning scientists have more work ahead to answer the question with greater certainty.

Taken in context with other research, though, Salathe sees reason for worry. His lab’s results add to a mounting body of evidence that vaping causes such problems, including evidence from studies on living people who vape.

Getting more definitive answers, though, takes time. Rigorous scientific research can’t move as fast as the vaping craze that now has millions of U.S. teenagers inhaling nicotine. And diseases like COPD play out over years.

“To really know, we need to wait 10 to 20 years, right? To see whether these humans are actually developing the diseases that we predict,” Salathe said. “The question is, now from a policy point of view, is that an acceptable experiment to actually do in the population?”

Tobacco use remains the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the U.S.

More than 20 cities and counties across Kansas have banned the sale of tobacco-related products to people under the age of 21 in hopes of preventing them from becoming hooked.

That’s based on studies that show most people who become addicted long-term begin using nicotine in their teens.

Last month the Kansas Supreme Court upheld local bans on sales to people under 21 in a case brought by vape and tobacco shops against the city of Topeka.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @celialj_LJ or email her at [email protected]. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.

OVERLAND PARK (AP) — A suburban Kansas City community college’s president has announced plans to retire just months after controversy erupted over statements he purportedly made about the affluence of its students.

Johnson County Community College said Tuesday that Joe Sopcich plans to step down July 1, 2020. The board renewed his contract last month.

A college spokesman noted that Sopcich turns 65 in April 2020.

Issues arose in February when a Democratic National Committee member live-tweeted remarks he overheard Sopcich make while discussing tuition increases with a college trustee during a breakfast at a Washington, D.C., hotel.

In one tweet, Sopcich was quoted as saying, “Show me anyone who struggles at JCCC..I walk the parking lot and I see a whole lot of very nice cars.”

Sopcich previously described the conversation as “hyperbole.”

State Rep. Larry Hibbard of Toronto told The Hutchinson News that he has chronic hives and has to “get rid of some stress.” Hibbard said he already had planned not to seek re-election next year.

Hibbard is a rancher who won his House seat easily in 2012 but faced a serious Republican primary challenge in 2018.

He voted in 2017 to reverse past income tax cuts championed by former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. He supported GOP tax relief legislation this year but voted to sustain Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of one of the measures.

Hibbard also supported a plan Kelly favored to expand Medicaid.

Republican precinct committee members in Hibbard’s district will name his replacement.

By COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — One-third of the attackers who terrorized schools, houses of worship or businesses nationwide last year had a history of serious domestic violence, two-thirds had mental health issues, and nearly all had made threatening or concerning communications that worried others before they struck, according to a U.S. Secret Service report on mass attacks.

The Secret Service studied 27 incidents where a total of 91 people were killed and 107 more injured in public spaces in 2018. Among them: the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, were 17 people were killed and 17 others injured, and the fatal attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

The report analyzed the timing, weapons, locations and stressors of the attacker, plus events that led up to the incident, in an effort to better understand how such attacks unfold and how to prevent them. Members of the Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, which did the study, briefed police, public safety and school officials at a seminar Tuesday.

“We want the community to know prevention is everyone’s responsibility,” said Lina Alathari, the center’s chief. “Not just law enforcement.”

Other incidents examined included a man who drove a truck into a Planned Parenthood clinic in New Jersey, injuring three, and a man who killed two at a law firm, and then one at a psychologist’s office in June. Criteria for the study included an incident where three or more people were injured in a public place.

Most attackers were male, ranging in age from 15 to 64. The domestic violence history often included serious violence. While 67% had mental health issues, only 44% had a diagnosis or known treatment for the issue.

Most of the attacks occurred midweek. Only one was on a Saturday. As for motive, more than half of the attackers had a grievance against a spouse or family member, or a personal or workplace dispute. Also, 22% had no known motive. In nearly half the cases, the attacker apparently selected the target in advance.

Alathari and her colleagues want communities to be aware of concerning behavior and these trends so officials have something to look out for.

The Secret Service center is tasked with researching, training and sharing information on the prevention of targeted violence, using the agency’s knowledge gleaned from years of watching possible targets that may or may not be out to assassinate the president.

Alathari said her team is working on a new report on school shootings and how to prevent them, and investigating averted attacks to try to figure out why someone didn’t follow through.

“There is not a single solution,” Alathari said. “The more that we’re out there, training, the more we’re out there with the community … the more we share information … I think it will help really alleviate and hopefully prevent even one incident from happening. One is too many.”