News & Commentary

Considered the most prestigious and competitive award for public interest law graduates, Skadden Fellowships provide two years of funding for lawyers pursuing public-interest law projects of their own design. Hiegert is one of 28 judicial clerks and graduating law students across the country to receive a Skadden Fellowship.

(CNN)Leavenworth Detention Center seems like a prime example of why President Joe Biden wants to close private prisons: So far this year, the federally contracted jail has been the site of multiple stabbings and a fatal beating. Former guards say drugs and weapons are common behind bars -- and for months, many cell doors didn't even lock. A judge called it "an absolute hellhole" at a recent sentencing hearing. 

LEAVENWORTH — Dangerous understaffing, pervasive drugs and a stockpile of weapons have transformed a private detention center in Kansas into a “hell hole” where violence is routine and inmates are still on lockdown after one was beaten to death this summer.

Kansas is the latest state to explore alterations to its mail policies in state prisons, pointing to the rise of drug use within facilities as justification for a move that has alarmed advocates.

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Mark McCormick is the former executive director of The Kansas African American Museum and a member of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission.

A federal judge approved a deal Wednesday that would see the state pay out roughly $1.9 million in legal fees to a group of attorneys, including the American Civil Liberties Union, stemming from a prolonged court fight over a controversial voting law favored by former Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

People locked up in the Leavenworth Detention Center in Kansas have been reaching out for help nearly every day.

TOPEKA — The Kansas Attorney General’s Office has agreed to pay the American Civil Liberties Union and other attorneys $1.9 million in fees and expenses for a five-year legal battle over an unconstitutional restriction on voter registrations.

The ACLU and federal public defenders are warning a private prison company may be trying to avoid President Biden's executive order that bans new contracts with most for-profit detention facilities.