News & Commentary

A proposed bill from the American Civil Liberties Union would reform the state’s handling of probation violations. The organization said at least 40% of inmates entering the state’s prisons were there on technical infractions of their probation.

With a full crowd in attendance for a ACLU criminal justice reform event, you could hear story, after story, on why state lawmakers should end mass incarcerations, especially for those striving for a second chance.

The Interstate Crosscheck program was the subject a class-action lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas on behalf of 945 voters whose partial Social Security numbers were exposed by Florida officials through an open records request.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas said in a news release that it has agreed to drop a civil lawsuit brought on behalf of Bo Dana Rupert in exchange for an amended Montgomery County plea agreement in a related criminal case against him.

“Kansas can be a model for criminal justice reform, both in terms of reducing mass incarceration and more broadly,” ACLU of Kansas director Nadine Johnson said in response to Zmuda’s comments. She added the organization looked forward to working with others “to see this come to fruition.”

On behalf of the board of directors, staff, volunteers and membership of the ACLU of Kansas, I’d like to thank the Topeka community for helping us host our recent “Free State Forum” event.

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a federal prison in Kansas to force it to provide an inmate with buprenorphine, an opioid addiction medication, saying the man would “inevitably suffer and possibly die” without it.

"It really wouldn't be a stretch to call this denial of Mr. Crews' treatment a death sentence," Lauren Bonds, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas, said in a news release. "Every minute we wait is another minute of suffering for him."

A court notice shows the federal lawsuit filed by a Muslim aerospace engineer has been settled days before the trial over allegations of discrimination stemming from a party at a Kansas lake.