Kansas Conservative Seeks to Oust 'Stinker' Pro-Equality Judge

The husband of a Kansas state senator is urging voters to remove a pro-marriage equality judge from office when he comes up for retention in the November 4 election.

Brian Baumgardner, who is married to Republican state senator Molly Baumgardner, says Johnson County Chief Judge Kevin Moriarty should lose his position because of his order that the county issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The order, issued October 8, has been placed on hold by the Kansas Supreme Court, which has scheduled a hearing on the matter for November 6.

"Mr. Moriarty obviously believes his personal views supersede legal protocol, the will of the voters and the Kansas Constitution," Brian Baumgardner said in a statement Friday, The Kansas City Star reports. "This most recent disregard for the Kansas Constitution is the final straw."

Moriarty issued his order in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, announced October 6, not to review rulings from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that invalidated same-sex marriage bans in Oklahoma and Utah. That circuit holds jurisdiction over Kansas as well. Any Kansas case that went before a federal court would be bound by the 10th Circuit decision, Moriarty wrote.

Johnson is the state's most populous county, encompassing several Kansas City suburbs. Although the Baumgardners live in adjacent Miami County, which is not covered by Moriarty's decision, Brian Baumgardner said the issue is of interest throughout the state because "a bad judge harms everybody."

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"I have watched this stinker for 20 years," Baumgardner said in an interview with the Star. "He is a prime example of an activist judge with a super ego."

Moriarty has been a Johnson County judge since 2004, when he was appointed by Kathleen Sebelius, then governor of Kansas. His previous experience includes private law practice and a stint as a Johnson County prosecutor. He won retention votes in 2006 and 2010.

He told the Star he wasn't worried about the vote and that retention doesn't figure in his rulings. "A judge -- any judge -- can't let that be the basis of their decision," he said. "If we start making our decisions based solely upon whether or not we are retained, we are in trouble."