Category: Forum
Updated on April 3, 2022
The Least Democratic Option: How Kansas Fills Vacant Supreme Court Seats
Kansas is unique and special in many ways. One such way that many Kansans are unaware of is that Kansas is the only state in country that gives members of its bar majority control to select justices on …
Updated on February 28, 2022
Redlining: The Race-Based Exclusion of Services and the DOJ’s Initiative to Combat It
On October 22, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the launch of its “Combatting Redlining Initiative.”[1] The initiative’s enforcement efforts against redlining are being led by the DOJ’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in collaboration with U.S. …
Updated on January 24, 2022
A Vicious Cycle: Juvenile Fines and Fees in Kansas
Interacting with the legal system can be financially ruinous for many young people and their families. There are fines and fees in the juvenile justice system associated with confinement, supervision, counsel, court costs, drug and alcohol testing, offenses, …
Updated on January 3, 2022
Occupational Licensing Laws: Threading the Needle Between Consumer Protection and the Constitutional Right to Earn a Living
A proliferation of occupational licensing laws has increased the percentage of the US workforce in an occupation requiring a state license from 5% in the 1950’s to nearly 30% by 2006.[i] These occupational licensing laws, aimed at protecting …
Posted on November 16, 2021
Bostock’s Aftershock: Intersectional Discrimination Claims Following Bostock v. Clayton County
Though Bostock v. Clayton County’s most visible effect was its extension of Title VII protections to LGBTQ+ individuals, the manner in which the Supreme Court decided the case has broad implications for claims of intersectional discrimination. Intersectionality refers …
Updated on October 27, 2021
Prison Gerrymandering: The Practice of Counting Inmates as Residents for Political Representation and the State Action Needed to End It
More than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States[1]––the vast majority of whom cannot vote.[2] Yet, in most states, incarcerated people are counted for political representation purposes in the voting districts in which they are incarcerated.[3] …
Updated on September 10, 2021
Just a Start: Executive Pardons and COVID-19 in Kansas
In early March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Kansas.[1] More than a year later, and despite the introduction of vaccines, Kansas is still battling the virus with more than a 1,000 new cases per …
Updated on May 14, 2021
An Officer’s Bullet Constitutes a Seizure in Torres v. Madrid
Author: Rachel Zierden, Staff Editor In the recent case Torres v. Madrid, the U.S. Supreme Court once again updated its Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. Led by Chief Justice Roberts, the Court determined that physical force with the intent to …
Updated on April 16, 2021
Anti-Asian Attacks and Attempts to Redefine “Hate” in America
On March 26, 2021, a white male gunman opened fire on three small businesses in metropolitan Atlanta, killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent.[i] The attack follows a year of rising violence against people of Asian …
Updated on February 25, 2021
Partisan Ping-Pong – President Biden and Private Prisons
President Joe Biden was sworn in on January 20, 2021. Soon after, he signed a flurry of executive orders, four of which were specifically targeted at “increas[ing] racial equity in the US.”[1] One of these executive orders is …
