Tag: Kansas

Kansas Supreme Court reverses Johnson County judge’s ruling that pandemic law is unconstitutional

The Supreme Court cited a doctrine known as ‘constitutional avoidance,’ which counsels against ruling on the constitutionality of a law if there are other grounds to resolve a case.

by Dan Margolies, KCUR and Kansas News Service

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday overturned a Johnson County judge’s decision that a 2021 Kansas law enacted to address COVID-19 emergency measures is unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court, though, made clear it was not expressing an opinion on the constitutionality of the law, Senate Bill 40. Instead, it said Johnson County District Judge David Hauber had overstepped his bounds by ruling on the law’s constitutionality when he’d already ruled that SB 40 was inapplicable.

The Supreme Court cited a doctrine known as “constitutional avoidance,” which counsels against ruling on the constitutionality of a law if there are other grounds to resolve a case.

The Kansas Legislature enacted SB 40 in late 2021 to limit actions taken by the governor, school boards and local health officials. It created systems for speedy legal challenges to health orders and gave state lawmakers more oversight.

Among other things, the law authorized aggrieved parents or students to challenge board of education decisions within 30 days after they are issued. It also imposed timelines on the state’s trial courts to process lawsuits under the law.

In May 2021, two parents of children in the Shawnee Mission School District, Kristin Butler and Scott Bozarth, challenged the district’s mask policy for the just concluding school year. Both represented themselves and both claimed the policy violated federal law, “the ethics of the Nuremberg code” and a parent’s right to decide medical treatment for their child.

Hauber dismissed their suit a few weeks later. He found that the district had enacted its mask policy before SB 40 took effect and therefore it was inapplicable. He also found that Butler’s and Bozarth’s lawsuits were not timely.

But Hauber also took it upon himself to rule on SB 40’s constitutionality. And he found that the law violated the separation of powers doctrine by imposing timelines on court operations and also violated the due process rights of the Shawnee Mission School District.

In reversing Hauber, the Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Dan Biles, acknowledged that its “decision may be just a temporary retreat from a raging storm, but it reflects necessary adherence to a long-standing doctrine of judicial self-restraint known as constitutional self-avoidance.”

“This rule,” Biles wrote, “strongly counsels against courts deciding a case on a constitutional question if it can be resolved in some other fashion, especially when the question concerns the validity of a statute enacted by our coordinate branches of state government.”

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who was invited to intervene in the case and defend SB 40, argued that Hauber’s ruling had created “unnecessary and disruptive confusion” over the state’s emergency powers and urged the Supreme Court to uphold the law.

The case generated an enormous amount of interest, with numerous friends-of-the-court briefs filed by interested parties, including Gov. Laura Kelly, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Blue Valley School District, Kansas Association of School Boards Legal Assistance Fund, Kansas Justice Institute and a group of parents challenging mask mandates issued by the Olathe and Blue Valley school districts.

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-01-07/kansas-supreme-court-reverses-johnson-county-judges-ruling-that-pandemic-law-is-unconstitutional.

Escape of second ‘dangerous’ Larned hospital patient spurs external security analysis

Both men managed to walk out of psychiatric facility undetected by staff

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — Escape and capture of a Larned State Hospital patient accused of attempted murder Tuesday prompted the governor to order the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services to expedite hiring of a firm to evaluate security at the facility housing sexual predators.

The latest flash point was Isaac Watts’ ability to walk away from the state hospital’s crisis stabilization unit Monday night. The 43-year-old man was being detained at the hospital by court order in relation to charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and domestic battery. Hospital video showed him exiting the facility wearing a state-issued jacket. He was subsequently taken into custody at a Garden City motel.

Security problems at Larned State Hospital were revealed in June 2021 when sex offender John Freeman Colt posed as a physician with a replica staff identification badge and passed through five secured doors and the exterior gates to freedom. In September, after three months on the run, he was captured in Utah.

On Tuesday, Gov. Laura Kelly directed the state agency with responsibility for state hospitals to “expeditiously” hire a company or organization to perform a comprehensive security analysis of Larned State Hospital and produce recommendations for upgrading security.

“This administration is taking action to identify and fix the flaws that allowed two dangerous residents to escape from a state-operated facility (and) to ensure that it does not happen again,” Kelly said.

Larned State Hospital serves the western two-thirds of Kansas with nearly 1,000 employees and capacity to provide treatment for about 450 patients.

Pawnee County Sheriff Scott King told the Great Bend Tribune that Watts learned about an unlocked hospital door from another patient. Watts was able to use a telephone to make certain a vehicle was waiting for him when he walked out of the facility, the Tribune said.

Laura Howard, secretary of the state Department for Aging and Disability Services, said the agency was cooperating with local law enforcement on what was termed an “elopement” from the hospital.

The state agency had been in talks with Correctional Leaders Association to identify firms with experience in secure settings, civil commitment programs and patients with mental health needs. The governor directed the agency to speed the process of selecting a consultant.

“Once we have retained an external firm, we will work closely with them to diagnose the full scope of protocols for elopement responses and a review of staff culture including their experience with the policies and practice,” Howard said.

She anticipated the consultants’ review to begin in February and completion of a written report by April.

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/2022/01/04/escape-of-second-dangerous-larned-hospital-patient-spurs-external-security-analysis/

Low-income energy assistance program available to help Kansas residents with heating bills

A perfect storm of cold weather and expensive energy costs is headed to Kansas households heating bills this winter.

National gas costs are projected to rise by 30 percent while energy costs are expected to be six percent higher, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Kansas Corporation Commission.

They explain that high natural gas and energy usage from Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, high demands on natural gas from heat waves this summer, energy shortages in Europe and Asia, and declining domestic production, all combined will cause energy and natural gas costs to be higher than normal this winter.

“This strain on already stressed family financial situations is cause for concern,” said DCF Secretary Laura Howard. “The Kansas Department for Children and Families is ready to assist Kansans with the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP).”

LIEAP provides an annual benefit to help qualifying households pay winter heating bills. Persons with disabilities, older adults and families with children are the primary groups assisted.

Applications for the program will be accepted beginning Monday, Jan. 3. In 2021, 38,750 households received an average benefit of $1,389, an increase from 2020 when about 34,000 households received an average benefit of $960.

To qualify, applicants must be responsible for direct payment of their heating bills. Income eligibility requirements are set at 150 percent of the federal poverty level. The level of benefit varies according to household income, number of people living in the home, type of residence, type of heating fuel and utility rates.
Applicants need to have made payments on their heating bill two out of the last three months. Those payments must be equal to or exceed $80 or the total balance due on their energy bills, whichever is less.

Applications for the program have been mailed to households that received energy assistance last year. LIEAP applications are also available at local DCF offices and through partnering agencies starting Jan. 3. They can be requested by calling 1-800-432-0043. To apply online, visit https://cssp.kees.ks.gov/apspssp/sspNonMed.portal. For more information, visit http://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Pages/EnergyAssistance.aspx.

Applications will be accepted from Jan. 3 to 5 p.m. March 31.

Income eligibility determination:

Funding for the Low Income Energy Assistance program is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Service through the Federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.