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Kansas Supreme Court affirms constitutionality of congressional redistricting map

Senate Democrat’s rebuttal: GOP ‘disrespected, ignored’ voters from very start

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — The Kansas Supreme Court issued a ruling Wednesday declaring the congressional redistricting map approved by the Republican-led Legislature to be in compliance with the Kansas Constitution.

The justices conducted oral argument Monday on an appeal by Attorney General Derek Schmidt of a Wyandotte County District Court judge’s May 18 opinion the map transferring liberal-leaning Lawrence from the 2nd District to the 1st District and splitting the Democratic stronghold of Wyandotte County between the 2nd and 3rd districts was unconstitutional.

Justice Caleb Stegall, in a two-page ruling, said the majority of the state’s highest court held Senate Bill 355 didn’t violate the state constitution.

“Therefore, the judgment of the district court is reversed and the permanent injunction ordered by the district court is lifted,” Stegall said in the order.

Stegall, an appointee of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, also said a “full opinion describing the facts, rationale and holdings of the court is forthcoming, along with all dissenting or concurring opinions of members of the court.”

The state Supreme Court acted in the consolidated case filed by 20 plaintiffs in three separate lawsuits challenging the congressional map’s constitutionality on grounds lawmakers engaged in partisan gerrymandering and intentionally weakened the influence of minority voters.

The defendants were Secretary of State Scott Schwab and the top election officials in Wyandotte and Douglas counties.

Lenexa Sen. Dinah Sykes, who serves as the Senate’s Democratic leader, said the Supreme Court’s decision was disappointing, but she respected the court’s position in the unprecedented case. This was the first time a Kansas district court judge found a congressional redistricting map to violate the constitution.

“But make no mistake: This process did not serve the Kansans we are elected to represent. Kansas Republicans disrespected, ignored and gaslit engaged voters from the very start,” Sykes said. “While that isn’t unconstitutional, it is unacceptable. Kansans should continue to hold legislative leadership to task for their consistent refusal to accept that, despite their best efforts, our residents are not a monolith and have a different vision for our state from the GOP’s.”

House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, said the Supreme Court’s decision on the congressional maps would set the state for more egregious political gerrymandering. He also said the voice of voters of Lawrence and Wyandotte County would be “silenced by this decision.”

“Because the court ruled the Kansas Constitution was not violated, this decision makes clear it’s time for an amendment that clarifies gerrymandering is unconstitutional and prohibited in the state. I call on my colleagues to bring a constitutional amendment to the ballot on this issue.”

The Kansas Legislature recast the state’s four congressional districts based on results of the 2020 U.S. Census. The map is redrawn every 10 years to reflect changes in population.

One objective of Republicans in the Legislature was to undermine reelection prospects of U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat in the 3rd District of Johnson and Wyandotte counties. The new map would remove voters in the Democrat stronghold of Wyandotte County north of Interstate 70 into the 2nd District.

Addition of liberal-leaning voters to the 1st and 2nd districts were calculated to be insufficient to threaten reelection campaigns of U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann and U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, both Republicans.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the congressional map, but two-thirds majorities in the state House and Senate voted to override her veto.

Kansas solicitor general Brant Laue argued federal court was the appropriate jurisdiction for challenges of the state’s proposed U.S. House map. He said the Legislature did nothing contrary to the Kansas Constitution in deciding how to recast districts served by three Republicans and one Democrat.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs told justices the Legislature engaged in racial discrimination in violation of the state’s Bill of Rights and served to shake foundational ideas that political power was inherent in the people and government existed for equal protection of citizens.

“Racial voter dilution and partisan gerrymandering are antithetical to those core constitutional principles,” said Sharon Brett, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas. “It classifies and favors one group of voters over another. It distorts and manipulates the map to advantage those in power.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/05/18/kansas-supreme-court-affirms-constitutionality-of-congressional-redistricting-map/

Today’s high to be near 82

On Friday, there will be a 20 percent chance of storms and rain in Wyandotte County. On Friday night, Wyandotte County will have a 60 percent chance of storms and rain, according to the National Weather Service. (National Weather Service graphic)

After a night of thunderstorms and rain, Wyandotte County residents should see milder weather today with a high near 82, according to the National Weather Service.

Mostly cloudy weather will give way to sunny weather on Wednesday, and tonight’s forecast will be mostly clear, with a low of 61, the weather service said.

On Thursday, temperatures may climb to a high of 89, with wind gusts as high as 22 mph, according to the weather service.

There is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms returning on Thursday night through Friday night, the weather service said. Saturday has a 40 percent chance of rain in the morning.

Sunday should see dry and sunny skies, with a high of 69, according to the weather service.

Today, it will be mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 82, the weather service said. A north northwest wind will be around 7 mph.

Tonight, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 61, according to the weather service. A north wind of 5 mph will become calm in the evening.

Thursday, it will be sunny, with a high near 89, the weather service said. A light south wind will increase to 8 to 13 mph in the morning, gusting up to 22 mph.

Thursday night, there is a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., then a slight chance of showers after 4 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 67, with a south wind of 15 mph, gusting as high as 26 mph.

Friday, there is a 20 percent chance of showers between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4 p.m., the weather service said. It will be mostly sunny, with a high near 78. A south southwest wind of 11 mph will become north northwest in the afternoon, and winds may gust up to 24 mph.

Friday night, there is a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers are likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 52. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is possible.

Saturday, there is a 40 percent chance of showers before 1 p.m., with a high near 60, the weather service said.

Saturday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 44, according to the weather service.

Sunday, it will be sunny, with a high near 69, the weather service said.

Sunday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 51, according to the weather service.

Monday, there is a 30 percent chance of showers, with a high near 69, the weather service said.

Monday night, there is a 30 percent chance of showers, with a low of 55, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, there is a 30 percent chance of showers, with a high near 73, the weather service said.

For more weather information, visit www.weather.gov.

Lady Sabres overcome early deficit, earn 8-2 playoff win over Bonner

Sumner Academy junior Joselyn Clark took a shot on goal in the first half. Clark scored three goals in Sumner’s 8-2 win over Bonner Springs in the 5A girls’ soccer regional semi-final. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

The Sumner Lady Sabres gave up early 1-0 and 2-1 leads to the Bonner Springs Lady Braves in their first-round playoff match, but a full-team effort brought Sumner back to an 8-2 lead at the final whistle.

Speedy Bonner forward Jenna Knight caused the Sumner defense problems early, and runs from Knight led to both Bonner goals. In the 9th minute, she took an open shot that ricocheted off the post, but the rebound fell to teammate Jaelyn Romo to put away for the early lead.

Sumner got the equalizer less than two minutes later, when the ball squirted out of a goalmouth scrum to Brenda Guevara-Alatorre who knocked it in from 15 yards out.

In the 22nd minute, Knight got onto the end of a pass from Mercedes Madlock and raced to fire it in to re-establish a one goal lead.

Sumner took less than a minute to come back to tie the score at 2-2, with Joselyn Clark racing unchecked up the middle. Bonner goalkeeper Alyssa King parried the shot, but the rebound fell back to Clark, who put it away.

Sumner made defensive adjustments to prevent Knight from getting open with running room, and the Lady Sabres started to pull away before halftime, scoring three unanswered goals. The most notable was Ashley Terrazas heading in a cross in the 35th minute.

Sumner added on three more goals in the second half, the last two off Terrazas free kicks. In the 66th minute, Terrazas picked out Clark, who knocked the ball in from the near post. In the 67th minute, Terrazas scored on a direct kick from 40 yards out, over the goalkeeper’s hands.

Clark scored three goals in the match. Terrazas and Guevara-Alatorre both notched two, and Gabriella Lopez scored one.

After the match, head coach Jon Borger talked about his team’s victory.

“We got some nice passing patterns, really played team ball,” the coach said. “We usually look to Joselyn Clark, our number 8, but we were able to put together some great team goals tonight. That’s what I was really proud of.”

The Lady Sabres advance to meet the Spring Hill Lady Broncos in the regional final on Thursday, starting at 6 p.m. The match will be played at Schlagle stadium. The winner of that game will advance to the 5A state tournament in Wichita on May 27 and 28.

The Bonner Springs Lady Braves finish their season with a 4-12 record. With 8 freshmen and 6 sophomores on the varsity roster, many of them playing significant minutes, the team is poised for a lot of growth in the next two years.