In recent years there's been growing interest in state constitutions as an independent source of rights that may extend beyond the United States Constitutions. But when the Kansas Supreme Court invoked the state constitution to attack insufficient funding for public schools and, later, to sustain abortion rights, the Kansas legislature fought back with "poison pill" legislation that threatened to defund all state courts. In a wide-ranging discussion with Gavel Talks host Richard Ginkowski, former Kansas Chief Justice Lawton Nuss describes the showdown that threatened judicial independence and attracted national attention.