Schmidt & 3 More AG: : MIMBY Gitmo November 18, 2015

(AP) – Top prosecutors in three states reportedly being assessed as potential future homes for Guantanamo Bay detainees are imploring the Obama administration not to send the prisoners to their states.

Attorneys general from Colorado, Kansas and South Carolina on Wednesday wrote to President Barack Obama, telling him that bringing detainees to their areas “will create imminent danger” and make “targets” out of the communities where they are placed.

A Defense Department team recently finished surveying seven sites in Colorado, South Carolina and Kansas that could be the next address for some of the 112 detainees currently housed at Guantanamo Bay.

Closing the detention center has been a top priority for Obama. The effort has faced hurdles, including opposition among both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

The prosecutors are giving the administration until Dec. 4 to respond.

Kansas AG Moves to Revise State E- Mail Rules May 6, 2015

. (AP) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has outlined a proposal for requiring the disclosure of some private emails from public officials when they deal with government business.

But Schmidt said in a letter Wednesday to the director of the Legislature’s bill-drafting staff that expanding the Kansas Open Records Act is difficult because of free-speech protections for state employees.

Schmidt issued a legal opinion last week saying state employees using private accounts or devices are not covered by the records act. The law requires agencies and other government-funded entities to make their records available to the public.

Schmidt faced criticism for the opinion and said in his letter Wednesday that the law should be revised.

The Kansas Press Association said it would work closely with Schmidt and legislators on a fix.

Brownback Takes. A couple of Questions on Same Sex Marriage at Olathe Campaign Stop October 7, 2014

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback says he continues to support the state’s state constitutional ban against same sex marriage. But the incumbent Governor dodged a few more questions about the same sex marriage issue at a campaign stop in Olathe.
After answering three questions, his Communications Director, John Milburn, escorted the Governor off, saying there was another appointment.
Monday, the US Supreme Court refused to take two cases defending a ban on same sex marriages. Kansas is involved because the cases came Oklahoma and Utah, two states that are also in the 10th judicial Circuit, along with Kansas. Lower federal courts in the 10th judicial Circuit have ruled similar same sex bans unconstitutional.
Kansas attorney general Derek Schmidt admits the Supreme Court’s announcement puts Kansas in ”a difficult positon”. He says he’ll defend the state’s ban when it is challenged in court.
Brownback followed Schmidt to the microphone. He noted the state’s 2005 election added the same sex ban to the state constitution. It collected 70% of the vote.
“That’s as strong a vote that what can take place,” said the Governor. He also added he expects the matter is now headed to court.
After two more questions, Brownback walked away from the speaker’s stand and the microphones. He briefly repeated his answer about the strength of the 70% vote and then his campaign aide escorted him from the area where reporters were gathered.
Brownback was in Olathe to receive the endorsement of Johnson County Sheriff Frank Denning and Johnson County district attorney Steve Howe.
The Governor also toured the Johnson County criminal laboratory facilities

Kansas Drops Case Against Planned Parenthood August 17, 2012

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe have dropped the remaining 32 misdemeanor charges against Planned Parenthood of Kansas City.
They were last of 107 counts brought against Planned Parenthood the case was originally brought by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline.
Prosecutors determined Planned Parenthood’s conduct in determining the gestational age of a fetus was proper and Planned Parenthood did not violate the state’s abortion laws.
“This case has been an abuse of political power, pure and simple,” noted Pedro Irigonegaray, counsel for Planned Parenthood in statement Friday afternoon.
Over the course of the case, various charges against Planned Parenthood were dropped by the state’s prosecutors.
In some cases, it was because the records the prosecutors planned to rely upon for evidence could not be found.