Justia Kansas Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In the state of Kansas, a number of non-profit groups, including the League of Women Voters of Kansas and the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, challenged a law which made it a felony to engage in conduct that gives the appearance of being an election official or that would cause another person to believe a person is an election official. The non-profits argued that the law was overbroad and unconstitutionally vague, as it could criminalize their voter education and registration activities. They also claimed that the law violated their rights to free speech and association. The district court denied their request for a temporary injunction and the Court of Appeals dismissed the non-profits' claims for lack of standing, arguing that they were not at risk of prosecution under the statute. The Supreme Court of the State of Kansas reversed these decisions, finding that the non-profits did have standing to challenge the law. The Court held that when a law criminalizes speech and does not clearly demonstrate that only constitutionally unprotected speech is being criminalized, the law is unclear enough to confer pre-enforcement standing on a plaintiff challenging the law. The Supreme Court of the State of Kansas vacated the Court of Appeals' decision and remanded the case to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings. View "League of Women Voters of Kansas v. Schwab" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the lower court finding the legislative reapportionment in the map colloquially known as "Ad Astra 2" constitutionally deficient as a partisan and racial gerrymander, holding that Plaintiffs did not prevail on any of their claims that Ad Astra 2 violates the Kansas Constitution.The district court held that Sub. SB 355 violates the Kansas Constitution as both a partisan and a racial gerrymander. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) this Court had jurisdiction to hear Plaintiffs' claims; (2) claims of excessive partisan gerrymandering are nonjusticiable in Kansas; and (3) Plaintiffs did not establish the elements of their race-based claims. View "Rivera v. Schwab" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court upheld the validity of Substitute for Senate Bill 563 (Sub. SB 563), holding that the Kansas State House and Kansas State Senate reapportionment maps contained within Sub. SB 563 contain no constitutional errors.The two maps at issue were approved by bipartisan majorities, and Sub. SB 563 was signed into law on April 15, 2022. On April 25, Attorney General Derek Schmidt petitioned the Supreme Court to determine the validity of Sub. SB 563, as required by Kan. Const. art. 10, 1(b). The Supreme Court held that Sub. SB 563 passed constitutional muster because the legislative maps contained therein satisfied the constitutional requirement of one person one vote, they were not discriminatory, and they satisfied the requirements of the Voting Rights Act. View "In re Validity of Substitute for Senate Bill 563" on Justia Law

On February 5, 2016, Governor Sam Brownback received statutorily required notice of District Magistrate Judge Tommy Webb’s departure from the bench. On June 15, 2016, three judges filed this petition for a writ of mandamus seeking a writ requiring the governor to immediately appoint an interim district magistrate judge for Haskall County. Specifically, Petitioner alleged that the governor failed to appoint a successor district magistrate judge in violation of Kan. Stat. Ann. 25-312a, which states that any “appointment made by the governor…shall be made within 90 days following receipt of notice….” The Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of mandamus, holding that the ninety-day time limit for the governor’s appointment of a district magistrate judge is directory rather than mandatory under precedent and is thus a discretionary act not subject to mandamus. View "Ambrosier v. Brownback" on Justia Law

At issue in this case was a City of Wichita ordinance that reduces the severity level of a first-offense conviction for possession of marijuana under certain circumstances. Relying upon the Kansas initiative and referendum statute, Kan. Stat. Ann. 12-3013, the city council submitted a general description of the proposed ordinance as a ballot question. City electors approved the ordinance in the April 2015 general election. The State subsequently filed this petition in quo warranto asking the Supreme Court to declare the ordinance null and void. The State also asked the Court to permanently prohibit the City from publishing, implementing and enforcing the ordinance, arguing, inter alia, that it was not adopted with the procedures set forth in section 12-3013(a). The Supreme Court agreed and granted the State’s request for a writ in quo warranto, holding that the ordinance is null and void because its proponents failed to follow the procedural requirements of the Kansas initiative and referendum statute. View "State ex rel. Schmidt v. City of Wichita" on Justia Law

Chad Taylor received the most votes in the Democratic Party primary for United States Senate for Kansas and was declared the winner. Taylor subsequently drafted a letter of withdrawal from the Senate race and submitted it to Kris Kobach, the Secretary of State. Kobach denied Taylor’s request that his name be withdrawn from nomination for election on the basis that the request did not comply with the requirements for withdrawal under Kan. Stat. Ann. 25-306b(b). Taylor filed a petition for writ of mandamus and emergency motion for temporary restraining order seeking, inter alia, an order directing Kobach to recognize and effectuate Taylor’s letter of withdrawal from the Senate race and prohibiting Kobach from including his name on the ballot race for the 2014 general election. The Supreme Court granted Taylor’s petition for writ of mandamus, holding that the uncontroverted contents of Taylor’s letter to Kobach satisfied the statutory requirements for withdrawal, and therefore, Kobach had no discretion to refuse to remove Taylor’s name from the ballots. View "Taylor v. Kobach" on Justia Law