TOPEKA, Kan. — The American Civil Liberties Union on Sunday released a statement condemning Kansas lawmakers for overriding gubernatorial vetoes last week, arguing the measures represent a sweeping attack on the rights of Kansans.
Among the bills enacted was HB 2437, known as the SAVE Kansas Act. According to the statement, the law creates new barriers to voting by expanding interference with voter registration efforts and making it harder for eligible residents to participate in elections.
The ACLU said HB 2437 also threatens the privacy and personal data of Kansas residents by requiring the creation of new lists containing sensitive information. The organization pointed to its 2018 lawsuit in Kansas, when errors in the Crosscheck system led to the exposure of data belonging to nearly 1,000 Kansas voters.
Another measure, S Sub HB 2372, was also criticized by the group as an infringement on voting rights and democratic accountability. The law removes county officials from the decision-making process over whether sheriffs may enter into 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, giving local sheriffs expanded authority.
The statement argued that with that increased authority, sheriffs could detain people indefinitely in jail without meeting the constitutional requirement that detention be supported by probable cause. The group also raised First Amendment concerns, citing the bill’s creation of a 25-foot buffer zone around law enforcement officers and the criminalization of certain protest activity.
The ACLU said the veto overrides mark a broader assault on civil liberties by encouraging voter suppression, jeopardizing data privacy, criminalizing protest and expanding the power of sheriffs.
Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas, said, “These bills are part and parcel of the illegal and dangerous attempts nationally to subvert our democracy and to dismantle our fundamental constitutional protections against government overreach and state violence.”
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