News & Commentary

From the Wichita Eagle: https://www.kansas.com/article245723115.html

In a letter addressed to Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez, the civil rights group highlighted concerns with officers’ handling of a peaceful protest on July 24. The ACLU was acting in support of local organizers who objected to the police tactics.

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab must release the names of people who cast provisional ballots in the 2018 general election, including whether their votes were counted, a Kansas judge ruled, handing a victory to a group that wants to expand voting rights.

The top election official in Kansas violated the state’s open records law by refusing to release the names of people who cast provisional ballots or say whether their votes were counted, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

A civil rights group has launched “The Clemency Project” to try to secure the release of Kansas prisoners whose medical conditions make them vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Individual clemency petitions will be filed on a rolling basis beginning with the inmates who were part of that lawsuit as well as more than 50 others who have since contacted the ACLU. And Bonds expects that number to grow.

A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that Kansas can’t require voters to show proof of citizenship when they register, dealing a blow to efforts by Republicans in several states who have pursued restrictive voting laws as a way of combating voter fraud.

The lawsuit argues that the inmates are housed in crowded conditions with limited access to adequate medical care. It also contended that releasing vulnerable inmates would allow proper social distancing and reduce the virus’ transmission among remaining prisoners.

On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas asked the state’s supreme court to release prisoners with pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes – risk factors that make them more vulnerable to Covid-19.