ACLU challenges Kansas death penalty as ‘arbitrary, racially discriminatory, unreliable’ (Kansas Reflector)
Kansas Reflector | October 16, 2024
A coalition led by the American Civil Liberties Union has asked a state court to abolish the death penalty in Kansas, arguing it violates constitutional rights, is racially biased and fails to deter crime.
The ACLU joined the Kansas Death Penalty Unit and attorneys from the Washington, D.C., law firms of Hogan Lovells and Ali and Lockwood in filing motions Tuesday in Wyandotte County District Court on behalf of Antoine Fielder.
A motion signed by 10 attorneys reads: “Decades of experimentation under the modern death penalty regime compel the conclusion that Kansas’s death penalty has outlived any conceivable use. It is imperfect in application, haphazard in result, and of negligible utility.”
The coalition also challenged a “death qualification” rule for jury selection. In order to serve on a capital murder jury in Kansas, a prospective juror must be willing to impose the death penalty.
“The death penalty in Kansas is unjust from start to finish and goes against all of the most fundamental principles of justice,” said Katie Ali, attorney at Ali and Lockwood. “From its disproportionate impact on Black Kansans to the high risk of wrongful convictions, it is clear that the death penalty serves neither fairness nor public safety. It’s time for Kansas to abandon this deeply unjust system.”
View the full original article at https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/16/aclu-challenges-kansas-death-penalty-as-arbitrary-racially-discriminatory-unreliable/