News & Commentary

“We’ve definitely had concerns about First Amendment rights,” Tseng said, “in terms of not only political content, but also religious content that prisoners haven’t been able to get. There doesn’t appear to be any real reason for the prisons to censor these materials.”

The issues raised in this case are really significant because at its heart, it goes to whether law enforcement can criminalize protected conduct under the guise of labeling it quote unquote ‘noisy,’” ACLU Legal Director Sharon Brett told The Eagle.

“It seems like one of the most aggressive police raids of a news organization or entity in quite some time,” said Sharon Brett, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, adding that it seemed “quite an alarming abuse of authority.”

Members of St. Marys five-person city commission have threatened to pull the lease of the public library if they don't remove all LGBTQ+ and other "socially divisive" books from the shelves. Their efforts have drawn a warning from the ACLU of Kansas.

Bradshaw and Kubic both pointed out that in banning books, too often, one parent winds up deciding what all children can read, not just their own child. Kubic also noted that the works targeted are often titles by African Americans or those with themes about LGBTQ+ people.

“And the St. Mary’s commission’s insistence on banning items containing content they don’t like could have constitutional implications when it comes to library patrons’ rights to free expression and the right to receive information.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas has filed a lawsuit defending three Kansas State University students who were kicked out of the State Capitol last week after unfurling four “bloody” banners calling for Medicaid expansion.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas sued on behalf of students, accusing the district of suppressing student’s political speech on campus “merely to avoid controversy.”