Kansas Courts Out of Control

The Supreme Court of Kansas has apparently decided that no education is better than some education, and is threatening to shut down schools unless the State Legislature passes a bill giving the schools more money:

The Kansas Supreme Court said Saturday that it will consider keeping schools closed because state legislators have failed to comply with the court's demand that they spend more money on public schools.

Students are already on summer break in Kansas and aren't scheduled to return until August. However, if the Legislature doesn't resolve the funding issue, the court could keep 445,000 students and 64,000 teachers and staff from returning to classrooms when the new school year starts.

I'll admit right up front that I'm not familiar with the Kansas constitution, but I don't know of anywhere else in the country where such a move by the courts would not be a violation of the separation of powers. The courts have the right to rule on the constitionality of laws passed by the legislature, but should not have the right to dictate what legislation must be passed. If the legislature passes a bill that the courts like, can the courts then order the governor to sign it? Sounds like the courts in Kansas have declared themselves sovereign ruler over the state.

This reminds me a little bit of the busing battles of the 70's which resulted in tremendous upheaval to the families involved, and not just a little violence. Those busing orders were later overturned in higher courts.

The Kansas legislature is currently working on a bill which would reign in the court's power, and I think they better get that finished before they worry about the school funding. Of course, the court will probably declare that law unconstitutional at which time there will be no law in Kansas. It sounds like a real mess, and a classic example of activist courts taking unto themselves power that exceeds their consitutional authority.