To the editor:

Roger McEowen made some good observations in his op-ed that appeared in the Tribune, Thursday, July 23. He noted that farmers, ranchers, and rural Kansans don’t get as much representation on the Nominating Commission for Supreme Court Justices as the urban/suburbanites do. He believes that the structural system is faulty, and that some reforms are needed to get more judges with rural perspective. He makes a good point.

The main cause of the problem is the make-up of our crazy gerrymandered Congressional Districts that put rural Kansas at a disadvantage in a number of ways. The outrageous effort to control the outcomes of elections in Kansas with the latest district maps in 2020, clearly diminished rural Kansans’ influence. Better, fairer maps were offered, but our legislators in Topeka refused to consider congressional districts be done by nonpartisan, impartial groups like the League of Women Voters.

So now a majority of our Congressional legislators are from urban areas, except for Tracey Mann, who has a P.O. Box in Salina. More people live in cities, so they get more representation.

It seems to me that the Supreme Court Nominating Commission could become more equitable with better Congressional District maps that could allow more members from rural Kansas. The lack of population in western Kansas is an obvious disadvantage, but the “structural system” is not the flaw, in my opinion. If there are problems or “lack of transparency,” some complain about, then let’s fix that part. We don’t need to trash the whole system that has kept our courts honest and nonpartisan for almost 70 years. Good judges don’t want to be politicians anyway, just ask them.

Direct election of judges will not help, but will be even worse for rural Kansas. Candidates will likely ALL come from urban areas, where most voters live. We will have no guarantee to know if they are honest or qualified or financed by some company or entity with nefarious plans for our rural lands. We should improve what we already have. I went in early and voted “NO” on that “Right to Buy” Amendment.

Dee Anne Grummon

Great Bend