News & Commentary

“The lack of clarity is by design because it allows them to disclaim the worst possible interpretation while also allowing for the worst possible outcome to happen,” said Micah Kubic, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, which opposed the law.

"As the city continues to work to assess and improve its police department’s relationship with the community, we are hopeful we can reach a resolution in this case that adequately remedies the impacts on those affected and prevents further rights violations, without added expense."

The city has spent more than $267,000 in legal fees since being sued over the gang list in April 2021 by the ACLU of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed. The organizations say police use the list to target Black and Latino residents who are identified as gang members with little or no evidence.

“Companies have made it clear that they are not interested in doing business with states that discriminate against workers and their families," Kelly says.

GOVERNMENTKansas Gov. Laura Kelly rejects transgender bathroom bill, gender-affirming care banAndrew BahlTopeka Capital-Journal

THERE ARE TIMES when I wonder whether I’m in denial about the perilous state of trans rights; I find my attention snapping from a lovely dinner with my polycule, most of whom are trans, to the screaming Mouth of Sauron that is social media’s endless shouting about how me and my people are all going to die. It can feel convincing; the evidence piles up with every legislative filing, from coast to coast. It’s a bleak picture made up of far more than unkind words.

The Republican lawmaker who introduced the bill said it would be enforced via student-athletes’ physical exams.

“Terminal infants would be ripped from their parents’ arms and forced through painful, medically unnecessary procedures that would only prolong their suffering,” said Aileen Berquist, policy director for the ACLU of Kansas, in written testimony.

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.