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Aileen Berquist, a lobbyist for the ACLU of Kansas said the policy — which grants wide discretion to judges — is likely to hold a disproportionate impact on children of color, who are already more likely to face harsh punishments than their white counterparts.

“Kansas voters know what their needs are, and we’re at a new moment for this work in the state, with several critical organizations uniting to ensure Kansans can hold their elected officials accountable to honor the fundamental right to vote,” said Leslie Butsch, field director at the ACLU of Kansas.

“I was fearful. I didn’t know what to expect,” said Maloney, who testified she still suffered anxiety from the experience with Kansas Highway Patrol. “I was scared and nervous. I was mad. I was very upset. I felt it was a waste of our time. I don’t feel save driving through Kansas anymore.”

The ACLU argues troopers target motorists with out-of-state license plates or those traveling to or from Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, despite prior court rulings that aimed to restrict how troopers factor a vehicle’s origin or destination into their reasonable suspicion.

The ACLU of Kansas has been fighting the “two step” in court for more than three years. The trial against Jones, who will step down July 1, is the third in recent weeks centered on how troopers conduct themselves during roadside stops. Federal juries this year have twice found that individual Kansas troopers violated constitutional rights during stops.

The ACLU of Kansas says that on Monday, May 1, the final phase of a challenge to the Kansas Highway Patrol’s “Two-Step” and practice of unlawful detainment of drivers without reasonable suspicion will begin in court.

Kansas lawmakers on Thursday passed what critics call one of the most sweeping anti-trans bathroom bills in the nation, overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto as conservative state lawmakers are increasingly embracing culture war policies.

“The Kansas bill would certainly be among the most restrictive ones that we’ve seen in the country — one of the most expansive, one of the most extreme and really just one of the most mean spirited and hurtful,” ACLU of Kansas Executive Director Micah Kubic said before the House vote. “School districts are probably one of the very first places where this bill and all of the other ones like it will show up.”

“What it’s about is politicians getting in the way of parents, children and their medical providers,” said D.C. Hiegert, a legal fellow with the ACLU of Kansas, in an interview with Kansas Capitol Bureau.