News & Commentary

This movement to restrict student protest is not new, but it has accelerated. The ACLU of Kansas recently detailed how similar attempts to limit speech have already appeared in districts such as Shawnee Mission, where administrators previously tried to suppress speech related to gun violence and even seized student journalists’ recording devices — actions the district later retreated from after legal challenge.

This week, we spoke with the ACLU of Kansas, which is closely monitoring the situation. The organization said that those fired by private companies over their comments may not have much recourse, but firings from Kansas schools are a different story, as they are an arm of the government, and the constitution is at play.

The ACLU of Kansas wrote testimony in opposition to the bill, stating it threatens free speech.

Kunyu Ching, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, agreed. “If the policy has been inconsistently enforced, or if the administration has allowed similar exterior-facing decorations or signs expressing other messages to remain up in other situations, then there may be an

A Shawnee city councilmember accused of deleting comments and blocking residents from his official Facebook page has drawn a reprimand from the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas.

ACLU of Kansas officials say an elementary school principal in Belleville invited a representative from Gideons International to distribute Bibles at the school. In a letter, the ACLU warned that the principal's actions violated the First Amendment, which mandates governmental neutrality when it comes to religion.

TOPEKA — A Kansas elementary school principal who invited an evangelical Christian missionary to pass out Bibles to students during their recess in May violated the First Amendment, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas warned Monday in a letter to the district.

“Senate Bill 394 absolutely does not give license to any state actors to broadly censor LGBTQ+ expression,” Micah Kubic—the executive director of the ACLU of Kansas—told The Pitch in their emailed remarks.

The Wichita City Council voted 7-0 to approve a $625,000 settlement over the police department’s gang list. The ACLU and Kansas Appleseed claim the list unconstitutionally targets people of color.