News & Commentary

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas sent a statement to KCTV 5 on the city commission’s vote and decision to create a community oversight board: We applaud the Leavenworth residents and the local community who showed up to make their voices heard in the hours of opposition testimony last night. The current language of the SUP still puts a great deal of trust in CoreCivic’s word, and this goes against the very real concerns for safety and human dignity at this facility we all heard last night. We recognize the difficult position the commissioners are in, but it would also be unfortunate if the amendment was an indicator that they have prematurely made a final decision to allow an ICE detention center to open. If this is the route we are taking, then the task force must have full oversight authority and independent investigatory power over CoreCivic. We caution the City against falling into a trap of CoreCivic’s many overtures of collaboration that it undermines the task force’s independence and its real purpose of accountability and intervention, if and when violations of the conditions occur.

The ACLU of Kansas represents several transgender Kansans as intervenors in the case. The transgender Kansans also do not object to Kobach dropping the case, ACLU attorney Monica Bennett said in a Feb. 24 filing.

Opponents, including the ACLU of Kansas, say bathroom bans are rooted in misinformation and do not improve safety.

Outside the chamber, advocacy groups including the ACLU of Kansas and Equality Kansas condemned the override, arguing the statute invites government overreach and targets an already marginalized community.

“Chairman Proctor regularly attacks Loud Light, the ACLU, and Kansas Appleseed in his campaign-oriented, highly-partisan newsletter,” she said. “Coincidentally, he brings legislation that directly and indirectly retaliates against them for exercising the same rights everybody else does.

The ACLU of Kansas has testified against the bill, arguing it makes it harder to hold federal agents accountable for misconduct and expands immunity without strengthening oversight.

“This discriminatory bill undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of ACLU of Kansas.

“Bathroom bans are grounded in prejudice and misinformation,” said Logan Demond, ACLU of Kansas policy director, in a previous statement. “And they don’t actually make anyone safer.”

Former Kansas Chief Justice Lawton Nuss has criticized the amendment, calling the election of state Supreme Court justices a “really bad idea.” He is joined by numerous state organizations — such as the ACLU, the Kansas Bar Association, and other mostly liberal groups — and I’ve no doubt that they’re sincere (though again, those organizations are probably also motivated in part by a desire to maintain a selection arrangement that has occasionally delivered surprisingly Democrat-friendly decisions).