News & Commentary

Sharon Brett, litigation director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said people often struggle with the court process. Courts are confusing and police can take property without having to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a crime happened.

The ACLU of Kansas decried the possibility of CoreCivic operating an ICE facility in a news release Wednesday. Sharon Brett, the chapter’s legal director, said the company was “plainly unable to run a facility that meets even the bare minimum of standards afforded by our Constitution.”

Sharon Brett, legal director of the ACLU in Kansas, said the judge’s proposed remedies illustrated the federal court wouldn’t “tolerate the cowboy mentality of policing that subjects our citizens to conditions of humiliation, degradation, and, in some tragic cases, violence.”

DC Hiegert, LGBTQ legal fellow for the ACLU of Kansas, stated that one of the best ways to support the trans community during this time is to take action by providing aid and resources for those in need.

The constitutional avoidance defense that we're raising in this case certainly requires the attorney general to contend with arguments that he did not want to contend with and was not planning on contending with when he filed this mandamus action," she said.

The Justice Department announced today a settlement agreement with Highland Community College (HCC) in Kansas to resolve the department’s investigation into allegations that Black students, primarily student-athletes, living on HCC’s main campus experienced discriminatory treatment in many aspects of campus life, including discipline, housing and interactions with campus security officers. The complaints alleged that Black students were targeted for searches and surveillance and disciplined more severely than their white peers, resulting in their unfair removal from campus housing or even expulsion.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas is urging a federal judge to impose a severe injunction against the Kansas Highway Patrol to block future violations of drivers’ constitutional rights. Under the rule, troopers would need to receive training and keep detailed records about traffic stops.

“If an injunction isn’t issued I think there’s a significant concern that the KHP will continue doing precisely the things that the court found to be unconstitutional,” Brett said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas issued a report noting wide discrepancies in how Kansas counties manage elections.