News & Commentary

The American Civil Liberties Union claims Dodge City is violating federal voting laws by making it impossible for the Hispanic and Latino communities to elect someone to the city commission that truly represents them.

The lawsuit, filed in 2022 by ACLU Kansas and other voting rights groups on behalf of two Dodge City voters, argues that Dodge City’s at-large voting system violates federal voting rights law because it denies Hispanic and Latino residents the ability to elect representatives of their choosing.

“This case really goes to the heart of how American representation should work,” plaintiff’s attorney Jonathan Blackman said in his closing argument. “We’re talking about protecting the right and ability of minority voters to vote for their chosen candidate.”

A little more than a year ago, ACLU Kansas and other voting-rights groups filed a lawsuit against the city claiming that its at-large election system unlawfully dilutes the votes of Latinos – depriving them of proper representation.

The ACLU of Kansas suggested the law may be unconstitutional and Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, campaign manager for New Frontiers, a southwest Kansas civic engagement group, said the proposed state council would create a new burden and potential discrimination for immigrant families.

The ACLU noted that the criminalization of marijuana is a racial justice issue - especially in Kansas. This has disproportionately impacted Black Kansans, who ranked 12th in the nation for the largest racial disparities in arrest rates for marijuana possession in 2018.

A federal lawsuit against Dodge City that claims unfair voting systems create a barrier for Latine candidates in the city is set to move forward. The ACLU of Kansas recently announced that the case will now go to trial on Feb. 24, 2024, in Wichita.

A federal court in Wichita has granted class-action status to 5,245 people on the Wichita Police Department’s gang list in a suit filed by the ACLU and the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice in 2021, seeks to strike down a state law and city policy.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas is crediting research from experts at Wharton and Princeton with helping to win its federal court case against the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) over unconstitutional treatment of out-of-state drivers.