WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the three college students who were detained after unfurling banners at the Kansas Statehouse in support of Medicaid expansion.
“Blood on their hands” banners drop in the Statehouse naming Kansas Senate President Wagle and Majority Leader Denning who are blocking over 100,000 Kansans from healthcare access #ExpandMedicaid pic.twitter.com/FpAnamSzTt
— Davis Hammet (@Davis_Hammet) March 27, 2019
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas said Thursday the Kansas restrictions suppress political expression. It seeks a court order prohibiting Kansas from enforcing what ACLU contends are flawed policies.
One KSU student, Jonathan Thomas Cole, posted a video of security staff removing the banners to the Post facebook page
The litigation stems from an incident last month involving Kansas State University students who hung large banners saying Republican legislators who oppose expanding Medicaid have “blood on their hands.”
The students were initially barred from the Statehouse for a year, but have since been reinstated.
House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a conservative Republican singled out in one of the banners, says the rule is in place to prevent damage to the Statehouse.