Courts and Crime
Republican AGs urge Biden administration to give up on vaccine requirements
WASHINGTON — More than 20 Republican state attorneys general are threatening to sue the Biden administration over its mandate that large employers require their employees to either be vaccinated against the coronavirus or undergo weekly testing. In a Thursday letter, the 24 AGs, including Derek Schmidt in Kansas, pushed the administration to remove the requirement […]
Protests at University of Kansas show culture shift on campus sexual violence
LAWRENCE — For two nights this week, hundreds of outraged students showed up at a University of Kansas fraternity house, demanding answers. With signs reading “no mercy for rapists” and “hold frats accountable,” the students crowded the fraternity’s lawn and chanted from its steps, protesting an alleged sexual assault at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house […]
Gymnasts urge U.S. Senate to investigate Larry Nassar sexual abuse after botched FBI inquiry
WASHINGTON — Olympic gold medalists including Simone Biles and Aly Raisman on Wednesday detailed for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee the failure of the FBI to investigate dozens of complaints of sexual abuse committed by Larry Nassar, the disgraced team doctor for USA Gymnastics and a former Michigan State University physician. The gymnasts also urged […]
Kansas cold case task force lays groundwork for sharing DNA database hits
TOPEKA — Members of a task force developing protocol for newly discovered DNA evidence in closed cases is backing a recommendation laying out a process to ensure defense counsel is made aware when a match is found in DNA registries. Following an August meeting of the Alvin Sykes Cold Case Task Force to discuss possible […]
Supreme Court drawn into fight over plan to discharge 50-year resident of state hospital
Kansas Supreme Court tries to resolve conflict over plan to transfer a 50-year disabled resident of Parsons state hospital to a community-based setting.
Voting rights attorneys argue whether new Kansas law blocks registration drives
TOPEKA — Voting rights attorneys battled Tuesday in Shawnee County District Court over the merits of a new law that threatens felony prosecution for any activities that could be mistaken as the work of an election official. Nonprofits including the League of Women Voters of Kansas sued the state before the law took effect July […]
Kansas Supreme Court dives into ambiguity of K.S.A 8-1567 — the state’s DUI statute
Kansas Supreme Court considers a pair of DUI cases challenging findings of the Court of Appeals on the counting of prior out-of-state convictions.
Kansas House member takes plea deal in Wellsville school case
A Wellsville Republican in the Kansas House agreed to plead guilty to three misdemeanors in wake of his bizarre behavior while a substitute teacher.
Kansas agrees to $1.9M settlement for defending Kobach’s baseless voter fraud claims
TOPEKA — The Kansas Attorney General’s Office has agreed to pay the American Civil Liberties Union and other attorneys $1.9 million in fees and expenses for a five-year legal battle over an unconstitutional restriction on voter registrations. The high-profile lawsuit was filed 2016 in response to former Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s signature law, which […]
Kansas Republicans raise objections to Biden’s expansive vaccine mandate
Half of Kansas congressional delegation and three GOP leaders in the Kansas House are critical of President Biden's COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
ACLU, public defenders urge White House to shut down violent private corrections facility in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The violence and neglect suffered by inmates at a pre-trial detention facility in Leavenworth has become so severe the facility should be shut down, a group of civil rights leaders and public defenders wrote in a letter to officials in Kansas and Washington, D.C. The letter, dated Thursday, said leaders at […]
Legislative auditors revise Kansas unemployment fraud tally upward to nearly $700 million
Updated estimate by legislative auditors is Kansas paid $700 million in fraudulent unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic.