Statehouse scraps: Kansas lawmakers shred transparency, good and bad bills, hated photo - Kansas Reflector

The ACLU of Kansas brought attention to a bill that proposes “proposes an old-fashioned literacy test, with a curriculum that includes the very Constitution bills like this one contradict, before individuals can exit probation, fully reenter community, or vote.”

The Ad Astra statue atop the Statehouse aims for a brighter tomorrow on a gloomy Jan. 24, 2023. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

ACLU death penalty challenge to go before Sedgwick County judge

In a little more than a week, a challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to the death penalty in Kansas will go before a Sedgwick County judge. Attorneys for the ACLU are making the case that the use of the death penalty is discriminatory and doesn’t serve its punitive purpose.

Screengrab of news video showing paper copies of expert testimony for the trial

ACLU fighting Kansas death penalty, cites abortion decision | The Wichita Eagle

The ACLU says that when the Kansas Supreme Court in 2019 found that the state constitution protects abortion, a decision called Hodes, the justices set a “strict scrutiny” standard for laws that infringe on fundamental rights.

This building behind this gate at the Lansing Correctional Facility houses Kansas’ execution chamber. JILL JARSULIC JARSULIC

Prison uprising put down as US inmates demand protection from coronavirus

On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas asked the state’s supreme court to release prisoners with pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes – risk factors that make them more vulnerable to Covid-19.

Signs pleading for help are seen in the windows at the Cook county jail complex in Chicago, Illinois, on 9 April. THE GUARDIAN