By Tim Carpenter
The Capital-Journal
Published Friday, March 23, 2007

A state senator filed an ethics complaint Thursday against the Sedgwick County District Court judge who dismissed misdemeanor charges against the state's best-known abortion doctor.

The complaint by Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, asserts Judge Paul Clark violated the judicial code of conduct by not revealing campaign contributions accepted from lawyers who won Clark's dismissal in December of 30 criminal counts filed against Dr. George Tiller by then-Attorney General Phill Kline.

Huelskamp pointed to the 2004 campaign checks of $500 each to Clark from Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston and Tiller attorney Dan Monnat.

Foulston and Monnat successfully argued jurisdictional issues should have prevented Kline from filing charges against Tiller in district court.

"Not only should those contributions obviously not influence the decision, they should have no appearance of doing so," Huelskamp said. "I thought that was a very strange decision."

In Sedgwick County, district judges run in partisan elections. Attorneys frequently donate to the political campaigns of these judges. In other areas of the state, including Shawnee County, district judges are appointed by the governor and stand periodically for retention by public vote.

The complaint against Clark was forwarded to the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications in Topeka. If the commission finds merit to the complaint, the panel can admonish a judge or submit recommendations for disciplinary action to the Kansas Supreme Court.

Kline, an anti-abortion Republican defeated in November for re-election, launched an inquiry in 2003 of medical procedures at Tiller's clinic and a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park. From medical records of clinic patients obtained by order of a Shawnee County judge, Kline concluded Tiller performed 15 illegal late-term abortions and didn't comply with state laws when reporting justification for those abortions.

Two weeks before leaving office, Kline convinced Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Yost there was probable cause to believe laws were broken by Tiller. Yost ordered Tiller to answer for the charges.

Foulston intervened by obtaining an order from Clark dismissing all 30 counts against Tiller. Clark upheld his ruling at a subsequent hearing, noting Kline didn't have authority to file charges in the jurisdiction without Foulston's permission.

"It's not a question of the merits of the case," Foulston said at the time. "It is a question of jurisdiction and authority."

In an attempt to sustain the case, Kline appointed a special prosecutor to appeal Clark's rulings to the Supreme Court. Democratic Attorney General Paul Morrison, upon replacing Kline in January, fired the special prosecutor and dropped the appeal.

"We are currently investigating Dr. Tiller and, if we find evidence of a crime, we will file the new charges," Ashley Anstaett, a spokeswoman for Morrison, said Thursday.

Huelskamp based his complaint on information from public campaign finance reports.

Troy Newman, leader of the pro-life group Operation Rescue in Wichita, joined Huelskamp in calling for decisive action against Clark.

"We've followed this case closely since its inception," Newman said. "Judge Clark had the responsibility to make his financial and political ties known to both parties presenting a matter before them."

Neither Clark, Monnat nor Foulston were available for comment.

In the Capitol, reaction was split on Huelskamp's complaint.

Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, and an attorney, said there was nothing in ethics rules for judges requiring Clark to make an announcement of past political contributions prior to each hearing. It is common in Kansas and other states for lawyers to contribute to campaigns of judges, he said.

"Judges campaigns are funded by attorneys," he said.

Rep. Steve Brunk, R-Bel Aire, a prominent abortion critic, said the legal system should settle whether Kline or Morrison correctly interpret state statutes on abortion.

"They can't both be right," he said. "Through all of this, what we want is truth."

Tim Carpenter can be reached at (785) 296-3005 or timothy.carpenter@cjonline.com.