A hearing begins Monday in Wyandotte County District Court on a challenge to the state’s death penalty.
The challenge was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Kansas, along with other groups and law firms. They are challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty and the practice of death qualification. The practice excludes those who oppose the death penalty from juries, and the ACLU claims that disproportionately excludes Black prospective jurors, women, and people of individual faiths who oppose capital punishment.
The court is scheduled to hear evidence all week through Friday, November 1. The court will hear one final day of expert testimony on January 9, 2025.
