Roscoe Pound, in his speech to the American Bar Association nearly a century ago, claimed that the political jealousy between the branches due to the fact that the judiciary has the last word on matters of constitutional law was one of the causes of the popular dissatisfaction with the administration of justice. What was true then remains true today.

Years ago there was bitter conflict between the branches of government in New Hampshire over the court’s decisions regarding school funding. Today that dispute is in Kansas:

The Kansas Supreme Court isn’t about to be pushed around by lawmakers.

And lawmakers aren’t about to be bullied by judges.

This spring, the advancement of some bills by the Kansas Legislature reopened old arguments over who’s the boss of whom.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Dennis Depew, Kansas Bar Association president.

Conservative Republicans in the Capitol have long been at odds with the judiciary, primarily over a 2005 Supreme Court order demanding hundreds of millions of dollars more for schools.

Relations between the two branches got testy again this spring when the Supreme Court opposed a bill redirecting administrative power to lower courts, a move that might be unconstitutional.

Chief Justice Lawton Nuss lashed out against the bill in a newspaper opinion piece. The court issued a statement emphasizing its opposition when Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed it into law.

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