Civil Rights
Northeast Kansas farm neighbors Pyle, Gall ask state’s highest court to settle property dispute
TOPEKA — Protracted legal friction between neighboring northeast Kansas landowners Dennis Pyle and James Gall Jr. about vehicle and farm equipment access to crop fields finally matured sufficiently to reach the Kansas Supreme Court. The Gall and Pyle farming families endured a bench trial in Brown County District Court and proceedings with the Kansas Court […]
Anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in Kansas Legislature are political bullying tactic, activists say
TOPEKA — The Kansas GOP is testing the waters with new legislation meant to discredit the LGBTQ community, activists say, with bills seeking to criminalize gender-affirming care and drag show performances for children, and a revised ban on transgender athletes. House Bill 2238, a new form of the “fairness in women’s sports act,” which has […]
Kansas Supreme Court justices point to ‘chilling’ impact of law on voter registration activity
TOPEKA — Kansas Supreme Court justices raised concerns Wednesday about the “chilling” effect a 2021 law could have on League of Women Voters volunteers and others who participate in voter registration drives. Part of the legislation makes it a crime to engage in conduct that would cause someone to believe you are an election worker. […]
Swaths of Kansas lack written policies on exculpatory evidence, law enforcement dishonesty
Leslie Mayer of Hutchinson is convinced the Lyon County Attorney’s Office withheld evidence that would have helped her late son Travis avoid at least some of the 56 months in prison he served after being found guilty of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer at a 2017 trial. The withheld evidence, she believes, included […]
Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and laws harm your Kansas neighbors. We can build a more welcoming state.
Even as data shows a majority of the country supports LGBTQ+ people and their rights, hostility and violence against the community is on the rise. The past two years have been the deadliest for transgender people in recent history, in large part due to the rapidly increasing number of legislative attacks against trans peoples’ rights […]
Proposed Kansas bill would turn abortion control over to cities, counties
TOPEKA — A recently introduced bill would bring the abortion fight to the county and city level, allowing local government to limit access to reproductive health care. The latest in a series of attempts to restrict abortion, Senate Bill 65 would give cities and counties the right to enact stricter laws on abortion than current […]
Kansas corrections secretary anxious burnout exacerbating uniformed-officer shortage
Kansas Department of Corrections fearful requiring 12-hour shifts to deal with shortage of 370 uniformed officers may push employees to breaking point.
Invasion of the body snatchers: Kansas GOP leaders crave control of residents
Republican leaders in the Kansas Legislature want to control your body and the bodies of your children. This new invasion of the body snatchers has played out across the last year or more in state politics, as those who claim to lead a party once dedicated to individual rights abandoned its rich history. GOP bigwigs […]
Advocates gather to support former University of Kansas professor following his sentencing
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Supporters of former University of Kansas professor Franklin Tao gathered in the cold wind and rain Wednesday outside the Robert J. Dole Federal Courthouse. The group assembled to show support for Tao, who was the first person arrested under former President Donald Trump’s discontinued “China Initiative” in 2019, and to voice […]
If Kansas legislators choose, a sensible and moderate path out of chaos awaits them
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. Rabbi Moti Rieber is executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, a statewide, multifaith issue-advocacy organization that works on a variety of social, economic and climate justice […]
ACLU of Kansas prepared to challenge Legislature’s attacks on trans kids, voting rights
TOPEKA — The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas is prepared to challenge the Kansas Legislature’s annual attacks on transgender children, voting rights and reproductive health care while searching for common ground on criminal justice reform and medical marijuana. The organization’s priorities for the 2023 session are mostly at odds with leadership in the GOP-dominated […]
On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no one should settle for ‘a piece of freedom’
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, a member of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission and deputy executive director at […]