News & Commentary

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas says it has called on the St. Marys City Commission to continue to fund the Pottawatomie-Wabaunsee Regional Library headquarters and abandon a proposed ban on certain materials.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas issued a statement in support of the library Wednesday, urging that the library continue to be funded and that the commission abandon the ban of these materials. The ACLU condemned the actions of the commission and said it will monitor the situation.

“As you see Kansas become one of the last remaining states in the region where no marijuana, medical or recreational, there’s a significant concern that the Kansas Highway Patrol will continue to focus its traffic enforcement efforts on out-of-state vehicles," Sharon Brett says.

“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.”

Kansas’ top elections official warned voters Monday that text messages from outside the state were giving them incorrect information about where to vote, but groups involved in the texting said they weren’t trying to confuse or mislead people.

The ACLU of Kansas has gotten over 25 calls about the text messages Monday, said Sharon Brett, the group's legal director.

The unsolicited text messages, which arrived Sunday night and appeared to target Democrats and unaffiliated voters, mirror similar misinformation campaigns in other states.

Kansas officials are warning voters to be wary of text messages directing them to incorrect polling places on Election Day.

Sharon Brett, Legal Director at the ACLU of Kansas, said by midday on Monday, her office had received some two dozen reports about the messages containing incorrect information. “We had a number of voters reach out to us either through social media or through email,” said Brett.