News & Commentary

The City of Wichita has reached a settlement with the ACLU of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed in a federal lawsuit regarding the police department’s gang list. The agreement awaits the City Council’s approval at its meeting on Tuesday.

Kansas is a state filled with people unafraid of asking each other hard questions and continually pushing one another for better answers. There is a landscape of smart, committed people who are tenacious and ready to fight for what’s right — even when the odds are stacked against them.

“This bill places politicians’ feelings above the expert medical advice of hundreds of thousands of doctors, and strips patients and families of their ability to make informed healthcare decisions,” the ACLU of Kansas said in a letter to the Senate in opposition of the bill in February.

Republican legislators gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would require Kansas abortion providers to ask their patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies and then report the answers to the state.

Scientific and legal interpretations of these words have evolved considerably in the past century. Today, medical experts understand biological sex assigned at birth as more complex and consider it distinct from gender identity.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and local mental health care providers are launching a new program next month. The ACLU of Kansas sued the state over its waiting list, arguing that the backlog is unconstitutional. That case is ongoing.

Trust is built through accountability and transparency, said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas. “The public has the right to know what happened, has the right to know whether police officers acted in a manner that is consistent with their training, the law, and common sense."

“Free speech and expression, especially political protest, are fundamental to our democracy, and police cannot have the power to selectively arrest anyone for speech they disagree with or are angered by. We are glad to see the Court agreed,” Legal Director Sharon Brett said in an email statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas announced Thursday that it was appealing a judge’s order blocking Kansas’ Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s administration from allowing transgender people to change the sex listed on their license.