News & Commentary

The ACLU of Kansas wrote testimony in opposition to the bill, stating it threatens free speech.

Rashane Hamby, director of Policy and Research at the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, presented opposing testimony at the Feb. 27 Senate hearing. “HB 2062 represents a backdoor assault on women's reproductive rights,” Hamby said.

Opposition to an immigration detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas, illustrates a tension playing out across the country.

In 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union urged the White House to close the facility, which was later achieved when then-President Joe Biden issued an executive order ending any contracts with private prisons.

Esmie Tseng, spokeswoman for ACLU of Kansas, said the Thursday press conference was a way to keep the issue in front of the Leavenworth community. Although organizations put the event together, she said it’s important that the city be the focus.

The constitutional challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations came to an end once their clients accused of capital crimes no longer faced the ultimate punishment.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other national legal groups have awaited the ruling since October, when they filed legal challenges in Kansas against the death penalty and a practice called death qualification.

Over 200 people from dozens of nonprofits showed up to the Convention Center Tuesday to share ideas. The group heard from United Way of Kansas City’s President, the Executive Director of ACLU Kansas, leaders from the Missouri Budget Project.

A coalition of six advocacy groups, including the ACLU of Kansas, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes and Loud Light Civic Action, issued a joint statement last month warning that the law threatens Kansans’ constitutional rights.