THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

And Kansas Republicans are determined to show that there is no law that can stand in the face of their Bolshevik like wrath at any person or law that would stymie their anarchical agenda. The latest target of their fury is the Kansas Supreme Court which has had the temerity to rule that Gov. Brownback and his minions must adhere to the law.

Look at the states, where political attacks on judicial decisions are common and well-financed attack ads are starting to jar the once-sleepy elections for State Supreme Court seats.

Nowhere is the battle more fiery than here in Kansas. Gov. Sam Brownback and other conservative Republicans have expressed outrage over State Supreme Court decisions that overturned death penalty verdicts, blocked anti-abortion laws and hampered Mr. Brownback’s efforts to slash taxes and spending, and they are seeking to reshape a body they call unaccountable to the right-tilting public.

At one point, the Legislature threatened to suspend all funding for the courts. The Supreme Court, in turn, ruled in February that the state’s public schools must shut down altogether if poorer districts do not get more money by June 30.

“A political bullying tactic” and “an assault on Kansas families, taxpayers and elected appropriators,” is how the president of the Senate, Susan Wagle, a Republican, responded to that ruling, which was based on requirements in the state Constitution. Mr. Brownback spoke darkly of an “activist Kansas Supreme Court.”

In March, in the latest salvo, the Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill to authorize impeachment of justices if their decisions “usurp” the power of other branches. But the climactic battle is expected in the November elections, when conservatives hope to remake the seven-member Supreme Court in a flash, by unseating four justices regarded as moderate or liberal.

God help any judge who believes that the law takes precedence over what the Governor wants. But this is just one example of how little respect the Republicans have for laws. They will have their agenda or they will have blood.