TOPEKA — The American Civil Liberties Union is asking a federal judge to make it easier to protest inside the Kansas Statehouse.
The group sought to show during a court hearing Wednesday that restrictions on demonstrations violate protesters’ rights to free speech and due legal process. The ACLU asked U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter to block enforcement of the rules while a lawsuit challenging them goes forward.
The ACLU sued after three college students were banned from the Statehouse for a year for hanging banners promoting Medicaid expansion in the Statehouse in March. The ban was lifted the next day, but the ACLU contends rules are too harsh.
They require a permit for events and prohibit most signs.
An assistant attorney general argued the ACLU is overstating how severe the rules are.
