WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A blanket ban on signs and restrictive permits for protests at the Kansas Statehouse constitute an unnecessary and impermissible prior restraint on political expression at the core of First Amendment expression, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas challenged the states application process for demonstrations inside the Statehouse building, or on its 20 acres, thats subject to the standardless discretion of Kansas officials and requires persons to first find a legislator willing to endorse their message.
It also challenged rules that prohibit people from bringing any signs, even small handheld ones, into the Statehouse. Violators are subject to expulsion.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting the state enforcing its permit plan for Statehouse demonstrations or its ban on the display of handheld signs.
It also wants a court order prohibiting the state from banning people from the Statehouse for violations of the policy.
The litigation stems from an incident last month involving Kansas State University students who hung large banners in the Capitol rotunda saying Republican legislators who oppose expanding Medicaid have blood on their hands. The four banners were up for only a few minutes before they were taken down.
Students Jonathan Cole, Katie Sullivan and Nathaniel Faflick were initially barred from the Statehouse for a year, but that decision was reversed the next day. The ACLU sued on their behalf.
House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a conservative Wichita Republican, said the rule is in place to prevent damage to the Statehouse and does not limit who can hang banners based on what they say. Hawkins was singled out in one of the banners and called the protesters extremist demonstrators.
