Court Cases

On October 30, 2025, the ACLU of Kansas and pro bono counsel Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of four Kansans over the unlimited, harsher punishment of poor defendants. The courts of Johnson County extend people's probation because they are unable to pay their restitution, even if they follow all other requirements. Kansas law allows judges to extend probation on the grounds of outstanding restitution alone even though the State and the courts know that they can collect restitution without extending probation. For years and even decades, people on probation in Kansas who have met all other requirements of their sentences have been unable to civically engage with their community simply because they couldn't afford to pay their restitution. While on probation, people are subject to invasive searches of their person and possessions without a warrant, are required to report on their movements in and out of the state, are not allowed to eat in or visit places that serve alcohol, and have their associations and habits surveilled. People on probation also cannot vote in Kansas until after they have been officially discharged. When probation is extended due to failure to pay, all of the terms of probation are extended—not just the outstanding amount of debt. Some of the clients in this case have had their probation extended for decades longer than the probationary period originally prescribed by the legislature in the criminal statute. In 2022, 12% of the Kansans lived below the poverty line. Amongst Black and Latino Kansans, 20.7% and 20.6 % respectively lived below the poverty line. For Native American Kansans that number was 17.6%. These are the individuals most in need of a government that works for them. However, due to the laws like the Kansas probation extension statute, they are most likely to remain on de facto permanent probation. For more information on this case, view the documents below. Updates will be added periodically.

If the death penalty is racist, arbitrary and serves no valid penological purpose, does it violate the Kansas constitution? The Sedgwick County District Court will grapple with this question at an unprecedented evidentiary hearing beginning on February 6, 2023.

The ACLU of Kansas, along with partners, filed a class action suit on May 26, 2022 against the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), citing wait times as long as 13 months for competency evaluations and restoration treatment for people facing criminal charges.

On January 30, 2020, the ACLU of Kansas filed a lawsuit challenging the Kansas Highway Patrol’s practice of unconstitutionally targeting motorists with out-of-state plates traveling to and from Colorado and routinely employing a training technique known as the “Kansas Two-Step.”

On April 22, 2021, the ACLU of Kansas and the ACLU Capital Punishment Project filed amicus briefs in State of Kansas v. Jonathan Carr and State of Kansas v. Reginald Carr challenging the constitutionality of Kansas’ death penalty.

On April 15, 2021 the ACLU of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed filed a class-action lawsuit against the City of Wichita, challenging the Wichita Police Department's use of a "gang" list.