By Associated Press - Wednesday, August 28, 2019

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration has asked that a state judge be removed from a lawsuit that challenges the use of Kentucky labor law to obtain the names of teachers who participated in “sickouts” to protest at Kentucky’s Capitol.

News outlets report that a motion filed Tuesday seeks the removal of Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd because he liked a Facebook post supportive of Democrat Andy Beshear’s campaign for governor. According to the motion, the Facebook like shows Shepherd’s court “has demonstrated an inability to set aside politics to preserve the integrity of the judiciary.”

Bevin has criticized Shepherd on numerous occasions, referring to him as a “partisan hack.”

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Shepherd declined to comment on the motion.

Beshear called it “yet another absurd attack by an out-of-control governor.”

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