News & Commentary

The ACLU of Kansas immediately sued over the law; the evidentiary court hearing for a temporary injunction against the law is scheduled for September 29.

“So much was on the line tonight: abortion rights, voting rights, public education, workers’ rights, and the fundamental freedoms guaranteed to every Kansan,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas. “The politicians behind this amendment wanted a court they could control — a court that would do their bidding instead of following the law and the constitution.

"The billionaire political donors and politicians behind this amendment tried to buy our Supreme Court," Kubic said. "They tried to turn our justices into politicians for sale, all so they could control the court’s rulings and take away our rights. But tonight, Kansas said NO."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes and Kansas Appleseed joined forces to form Kansas United for Impartial Courts in a campaign to oppose the constitutional amendment. They warned that the amendment would allow out-of-state billionaires to buy the court. “The billionaire political donors and politicians behind this amendment tried to buy our Supreme Court,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas. “They tried to turn our justices into politicians for sale, all so they could control the court’s rulings and take away our rights. But tonight, Kansas said no.”

According to the ACLU of Kansas, between 80,000 and 100,000 of these devices are now installed across the country. The assumption that "out here" means unobserved is dead.

Kubic, who is also executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said an election would turn justices into politicians seeking dollars for campaigns. He expressed concern over the influence that campaign money could have in the court system. “Wisconsin is the best example because it is the most recent one of what this new landscape looks like,” he said.

“The only way they can do that is by tapping into local police forces,” said Micah Kubic, the executive director of the ACLU of Kansas.

Micah Kubic, the executive director of the ACLU of Kansas, said he expected the court to soon consider several controversial policies, including on LGBTQ+, labor and voting rights.

For weeks, reports of ICE activity in Olathe seemed to arrive almost daily, with residents documenting detentions at apartment complexes, businesses, gas stations and intersections and community volunteers tracking federal agents across the city. But since the July 11 detention of a U.S. citizen in Olathe, few new public reports have surfaced in the city, according to local ICE watch groups. Here’s what we know: