The judge who signed off on a search warrant authorizing the raid of a newspaper office in Marion, Kansas, is facing a complaint about her decision and has been asked by a judicial body to respond, records shared with CNN by the complainant show.
The judge who signed off on a search warrant authorizing the raid of a newspaper office in Marion, Kansas, is facing a complaint about her decision and has been asked by a judicial body to respond, records shared with CNN by the complainant show.
Her contract almost certainly requires due process before she is terminated under these circumstances.
And while not all workers in the US get that protection, it would be better if they did.
I’m sorry but this is really funny. Her “contract” is the state constitution.
https://kslib.info/829/Article-3-Judicial
Whatever her contract specifies has to be consistent with the constitution, but her contract covers a lot more than that. It’s not like she can look through the constitution to find her PTO policy.
Elected offical’s compensation packages are codified, not contracted. This is a really bizarre rabbit hole you’ve went down.
The constitution and state law must be in keeping with any employment contract. That doesn’t mean there is no employment contract.
Without an employment contract, there is no penalty if an employee suddenly decides to quit. If you are at will (no contract), giving notice to your employer is merely a courtesy.
The government does not want judges to suddenly quit in the middle of a trial, for the same reason that hospitals don’t want doctors to quit in the middle of a patient appointment. Those kinds of employees need contracts.
Among other things, the contract specifies termination procedures. This may include a requirement to give notice and also limit the opportunity for summary firing.
An example of an employment contract for a judge can be found here.
It may not be a contract persay, but it does seem to support the idea that some amount of due process is required. I’d agree that there should be some option to more rapidly suspend a judge, but the constitution you quote says she gets a hearing before dismissal.
I wasn’t really arguing that they couldn’t dismiss them, just that the dismissal of an elected official being mediated by employment law is… an interesting approach.
This judge is not an elected official.
She was appointed but has to be voted for every 4 years.
No, she doesn’t. She is a magistrate judge, and that’s an appointed position.