Kansas appeals court attorney fired over tweet

Sarah Peterson Herr, a research attorney for a Kansas Court of Appeals judge, posted the comments about former Attorney General Phill Kline while he was appearing before the Kansas Supreme Court as part of an ethics investigation.

One tweet commented on Kline's facial expression, saying "Why is Phil Klein (sic) smiling? There is nothing to smile about, douchebag." Another predicted that Kline would be disbarred by the court for seven years for his conduct.

The Kansas Supreme Court is considering whether Kline's law license should be indefinitely suspended for his conduct during investigations of abortion providers. The comments appeared around 10 a.m. Thursday when Kline was standing before the seven-member court answering questions about his conduct while he was attorney general and Johnson County district attorney.

Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said Monday that Herr had been fired and that her case had been referred to other offices for possible ethical violations.