Crony appointment to judicial nominating committee better than trusting voters in JoCo?

Dr. Janis McMillen was first appointed to the 10^th Judicial District Nominating Committee on March 25, 2004, by former Johnson County Commissioner Dolores Furtado. Commissioner Ed Eilert reappointed her on February 28, 2008. Why was the original crony appointment of Dr. McMillan by Dr. Furtado never questioned by the press?

Dr. McMillen has been a “No” advocate in the Question #1 ballot initiative in Johnson County in the Nov. general election. In Aug 2006 she wrote a letter to the Wichita Eagle to “keep politics out of selecting our judges.” In early Sept 2008 Dr. McMillen challenged KU law professor Stephen Ware over secrecy and bias in the district judicial nominating process. Why is Dr. McMillen trying so hard to keep voters from deciding who the judges will be, and ignoring the crony political appointment process that she herself was part of?

Let’s go back eight years to 2000 when the “Yes Yes Yes for Johnson County Charter” initiative took party labels off many county-wide contests. Both former JoCo Commissioner Furtado (who now is a State Rep 19 candidate) and crony McMillen were contributors to this effort to hide party affiliation:

According to the May 20, 2000 Kansas City Star, Dolores Furtado and Janis McMillen were elected co-presidents of the Johnson County League of Women Voters (LWV). As shown above, both co-presidents and their LWV group gave to YesYesYes in 2000, which hid party labels and their political party philosophies from voters.

In 2006, Janis McMillen (left) was president of Kansas League of Women voters and Dolores Furtado (right) was a LWV-KC representative at a statewide League meeting.

The League boasts about being a non-partisan group, but individual members of the League of Women Voters almost exclusively give to left-leaning candidates. Political contributions by both Furtado and McMillen are shown below, and demonstrate both of these League political activists lean to the left. Both gave to Democratic Gov. Sebelius, and Democratic Congressional candidate Judy Hancock. McMillen gave to Democrat Jill Docking, a U.S. Senate candidate, and to Democratic congressman Dennis Moore, as well as far-left groups Emily’s List and Mainstream Coalition.

Both Furtado and McMillen are now Democrats, but earlier this year Furtado voted as a Republican in the GOP Presidential Primary in Feb.

In 2008, the JoCo League of Women Voter’s did not believe in transparency in their candidate forums.

Janis McMillen was Treasurer of Mainstream Coalition in 2006 and now in 2008 is president of the far-left group.

Why should JoCo voters say “No” to electing their judges, when the current system of appointing members of the nominating committee, both for district courts and the supreme court, hides the politics of the players, just like YesYesYes did in JoCo in 2000?

Why is the left trying to use Phill Kline as an issue in this contest when they refuse to acknowledge judicial reforms are necessary?

On Thursday, Oct. 16 voters will have two opportunities to attend forums to hear these issues discussed :

• A special lunch event will be held by the Kansas City Federalist Society with KC Star legal columnist Dan Margolies moderating a panel discussion by Prof. Stephen Ware, KU School of Law, Mr. Greg Musil, Johnson Countians for Justice, and Mr. Doug Johnson, Kansas Judicial Review. Click here to RSVP.
• The JoCo League of Women Voters will host a debate at the Johnson County Central Resource Library from 7 PM till 8:30 PM.

[Before the August 2008 primary elections, Janis McMillen and the JoCo League of Women Voters missed an opportunity to provide transparency in their candidate forums. Janis McMillen when she was the moderator in the forum between DA Phill Kline and DA candidate Steve Howe failed to disclose her political contributions to three previous Kline opponents (Dennis Moore, David Adkins, and Chris Biggs). If the League continues to refuse to provide transparency in their candidate forums, perhaps the forums in the future will need to be discontinued by the Johnson County Community College out of fairness to all candidates.]

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Political Contributions by Dolores Furtado

Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission

Recipient	Contributor	Date	Dollars	Contest	District
ADKINS, DAVID	FURTADO, DOLORES	6/12/2002	$100.00	AG
GAMBLE, SUE	FURTADO DOLORES	7/3/2000	$50.00	SBOE	2
GAMBLE, SUE	FURTADO DOLORES	7/24/2000	$75.00	SBOE	2
FURTADO, DOLORES	FURTADO, DOLORES	7/03/2008	$1000.00	House	19
FURTADO, DOLORES	FURTADO, DOLORES	7/09/2008	$105.00	House	19
FURTADO, DOLORES	FURTADO, DOLORES	7/17/2008	$3000.00	House	19
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	FURTADO, DELORES	12/1/1997	$100.00	Insurance
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	FURTADO, DOLORES	2/28/2002	$100.00	Gov
WAGNON, JOAN	FURTADO DOLORES	11/22/1993	$100.00	Misc
WAGNON, JOAN	FURTADO DOLORES	11/5/1994	$100.00	Misc

Open Secrets

Contributor	Date	Amount	Recipient
FURTADO, DOLORES OVERLAND PARK,KS 66212	10/5/96	$250	Hancock, Judy (D)

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Note: Both McMillen and Furtado have contributed to Furtado’s State Rep race in 2008.

Political Contributions by Janis McMillen

Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission

Recipient	Contributor	Date	Dollars	Contest	District
ADKINS, DAVID	MCMILLEN, JANIS	6/12/2002	$100.00	AG
ADKINS, DAVID	MCMILLEN, JANIS	8/20/2002	$50.00	AG
BIGGS, CHRIS	MCMILLEN, JANIS	10/9/2002	$50.00	AG
BIGGS, CHRIS	MCMILLEN, JANIS	10/19/2002	$50.00	AG
BIGGS, CHRIS	MCMILLEN, JANIS	11/4/2002	$100.00	AG
FURTADO, DOLORES	MCMILLEN, JANIS	7/23/2008	$500.00	House	19
GAMBLE, SUE	MCMILLEN JANIS	7/3/2000	$100.00	SBOE	2
GAMBLE, SUE	MCMILLEN JANIS	7/25/2000	$100.00	SBOE	2
GAMBLE, SUE	MCMILLEN JANIS	10/16/2000	$100.00	SBOE	2
NEIGHBOR, CINDY	MCMILLEN, JANIS	10/9/2002	$50.00	House	18
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	MCMILLEN, JANIS	8/20/1997	$100.00	Insurance
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	MCMILLEN, JANIS	12/1/1997	$100.00	Insurance
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	MCMILLEN, JANIS	11/4/2000	$100.00	Gov
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	MCMILLEN, JANIS	10/1/2001	$200.00	Gov
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	MCMILLEN, JANIS	2/28/2002	$100.00	Gov
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	MCMILLEN, JANIS	5/23/2002	$100.00	Gov
SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN	MCMILLEN, JANIS	8/20/2002	$100.00	Gov
WEDDLE, FORREST	MCMILLEN, JANIS	7/30/2002	$50.00	SBOE	3

Open Secrets

Contributor	Date	Amount	Recipient
MCMILLEN, JANIS OVERLAND PARK,KS 66212	10/6/96	$250	Docking, Jill (D)
MCMILLEN, JANIS OVERLAND PARK,KS 66212	10/5/96	$250	Hancock, Judy (D)
MCMILLEN, JANIS OVERLAND PARK,KS 66212	2/27/00	$250	Moore, Dennis (D)
MCMILLEN, JANIS OVERLAND PARK,KS 66212	9/2/00	$250	Moore, Dennis (D)
MCMILLEN, JANIS OVERLAND PARK,KS 66212	3/2/06	$250	Kansas Democratic State Cmte (D)
MCMILLEN, JANIS OVERLAND PARK,KS 66212	7/23/04	$100	Mainstream Coalition
MCMILLEN, JANIS K MS SHAWNEE MSN,KS 66212	7/12/05	$200	EMILY’s List

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Related:

• Did $13,000 to Gov. Sebelius play part in Supreme Court Nominating Commission appointment? Kansas Meadowlark, June 28, 2008.
• Political Profile of Tenth Judicial District Nominating Committee, Kansas Meadowlark, June 4, 2008.
• Kansas 2008 Judicial Accountability Report Card: C-, Kansas Meadowlark, June 20, 2008.
• JoCo League of Women Voters doesn’t believe in transparency in their candidate forums, Kansas Meadowlark, July 19, 2008.
• Updated Political Profile of Members of the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission: Still 6 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 1 Republican for Moore, Kansas Meadowlark, Dec 16, 2007.
• Why did a Kansas Supreme Court Justice Change Political Parties?, Kansas Meadowlark, Dec 4, 2007.
• Selection to the Kansas Supreme Court, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, Stephen Ware, KU School of Law, Nov 26, 2007.
• Governor Sebelius Rewards $13,700 Democratic Donor with Johnson County District Judgeship, Kansas Meadowlark, Aug 7, 2007.
• Judicial selection commissions, Judgepedia

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Tags: District Court Nominating Commission, Kansas District Courts, League of Women Voters, Mainstream Coalition, Question One