Kansas

Kansas Settles ‘Kiss and Tell’ Teen Sex Reporting Case

The Center for Reproductive Rights and the state of Kansas have agreed to a $475,000 settlement of a lawsuit prompted by a sweeping 2003 attorney general opinion that required health clinics, especially abortion clinics, to report incidents of teen sex. In 2006, the center won a restraining order in federal…

Aug 8, 2008 2:19 PM CDT

Kansas City’s Polsinelli & Shughart Firms in Merger Talks

Two big Kansas City law firms are talking about getting bigger. Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus and Shughart Thomson & Kilroy are discussing a possible merger, and say in a joint press release (PDF) that they are “encouraged by the potential synergies between the two firms,” reports the Kansas City Star.…

Jul 8, 2008 2:04 PM CDT

Activists Spurring Grand Jury Probes More Successful Fighting Porn than Abortion

For months, a Kansas grand jury, impaneled by citizen petition, has been investigating whether an abortion provider performed illegal late-term abortions. So far, anti-abortion activists in the state have not succeeded in getting an indictment through use of an 1887 law that permits citizens there to call a grand jury…

Jun 17, 2008 1:25 PM CDT

Mayor’s Aide Files Discrimination Suit Over a Volunteer—the Mayor’s Wife

Ordinarily, an employment discrimination lawsuit against a government entity is sparked by a problem between employees, or an employee and a supervisor. But an unusual case in Kansas City, Mo., involving an unusual full-time volunteer is stretching the boundaries of this area of law practice. The volunteer is Gloria Squitiro,…

Jun 11, 2008 10:07 PM CDT

Last Brown v. Board of Ed Plaintiff, Zelma Henderson, Dies

Zelma Henderson, the sole surviving plaintiff in the landmark desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, died of pancreatic cancer Tuesday. She was 88. In a news obituary featuring Henderson, the New York Times notes that the lifelong Topeka, Kan., resident was one of the “et al.” named…

May 22, 2008 3:08 PM CDT

Capital Murder Trial Chronicled Via Twitter

Updated: Trial junkies following the high-profile prosecution of a Wichita man accused in the contract killing of a pregnant 14-year-old girl can get continual, brief updates at Twitter.com from a reporter covering the trial. Reporter Ron Sylvester is covering the trial of defendant Theodore Burnett for the Wichita Eagle, but…

May 15, 2008 5:49 PM CDT

Lawyer Suspended for Failing to E-File

A Topeka, Kan., lawyer has been suspended for three months, partly because he ignored a bankruptcy court’s warning that he needed to file his cases electronically. The Kansas Supreme Court held that the lawyer, Stephen D. Harris, violated his duty to represent his clients with competence, diligence and promptness. The…

Apr 15, 2008 5:28 PM CDT

Kansas Strikes ‘John Doe’ Rape Warrants

The Kansas Supreme Court has struck down arrest warrants in seven rape cases—reportedly the first in the country to charge someone’s DNA with a crime. In its ruling Friday, the high court said the warrants weren’t specific enough to meet legal standards, the Wichita Eagle reports. The paper notes that…

Mar 31, 2008 4:17 PM CDT

Sperm Donor Who Claims Parental Rights Seeks Cert

A sperm donor who lost his bid for parental rights is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his appeal. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled against Daryl Hendrix in a 4-2 opinion released in October, the Associated Press reports. The court upheld a Kansas law that says sperm donors have…

Mar 21, 2008 2:30 PM CDT

Woman’s Boyfriend Charged in Stuck-Toilet-Seat Case

The bizarre case of a Kansas woman who sat on a toilet seat so long that it became stuck to her body has resulted in a criminal charge against a man alleged to be responsible. Kory McFarren, 37, who is reportedly the boyfriend of the woman stuck to the toilet,…

Mar 20, 2008 9:28 PM CDT

Kansas Supreme Court Halts Release of Abortion Records

The Kansas Supreme Court is barring release of records of abortion patients until it considers a motion to quash grand-jury subpoeanas for the documents. A grand jury has subpoenaed medical files of about 2,000 women as it investigates whether a late-term abortion provider has broken state laws regulating the procedure,…

Feb 6, 2008 12:37 PM CST

Citizen-Launched Kan. Grand Juries Pursue Abortion & Porn Cases

An almost-forgotten law in Kansas that allows citizens to convene grand juries reportedly has become a tool for local conservatives to use to force prosecutors to pursue abortion and pornography cases. A citizen petition drive, for instance, impaneled a grand jury earlier this month to investigate Dr. George Tiller, who…

Jan 18, 2008 6:29 PM CST

Kansas AG in Sex Scandal Resigns

The attorney general of Kansas, who has been embroiled in a sex scandal that also raises significant legal ethics issues, announced today that he will resign from office effective at the end of January. At that point, he will have been in office barely one year. “Many people feel betrayed…

Dec 14, 2007 10:59 PM CST

Kansas Agog Over AG Sex Scandal

An admitted extramarital affair is the least of it. A longtime employee in the Johnson County, Kan., district attorney’s office says she was sexually harassed by the new state attorney general as part of a two-year affair that involved courthouse trysts and alleged interference with cases being prosecuted by her…

Dec 12, 2007 11:57 PM CST

KC Firm in Merger Talks, Expanding to Chicago

A midsize Kansas City firm in the midst of merger talks isn’t waiting for that deal to expand. Blackwell Sanders already dispatched the former head of its London office to recruit and kick-start a shop in Chicago, the Kansas City Star reports. Partner John Mandelbaum has moved to Chicago and…

Nov 27, 2007 9:50 PM CST