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The ACLU of Kansas calls it a power grab by extremist politicians, and an attack on a judicial branch that has ruled against lawmakers on several recent occasions. The amendment will be on the ballots next August, for the 2026 Primary Election.

ACLU of Kansas Executive Director Micah Kubic called the push from Kansas Republicans “a blatant attack by the legislators on our justices [that is] part of a decades-long pattern of politicians attempting to punish the judicial branch for issuing decisions on education and reproductive freedom tha

The bill is opposed by several different organizations that represent the legal profession, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Kansas Organization of State Employees and Planned Parenthood of the Great Plains.

The ACLU of Kansas and its executive director Micah Kubic released a statement in response to the passage of the amendment:

Republican lawmakers are getting closer to changing how Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected.

Opponents of the bill included the ACLU of Kansas, Equality Kansas and Loud Light Civic Action. Parents, teachers and students also spoke out against the bill.

Kunyu Ching, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, agreed. “If the policy has been inconsistently enforced, or if the administration has allowed similar exterior-facing decorations or signs expressing other messages to remain up in other situations, then there may be an

Attorney D.C. Hiegert, civil liberties legal fellow for the ACLU of Kansas, said a decision from a Kansas Court of Appeals panel is expected this month.

Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas, called out CoreCivic’s history as a prison operator, saying that it was notorious for violence and violations of human rights.