The Wyandotte County Courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. Attorneys called expert witnesses in Wyandotte County District Court Tuesday to support their argument that Kansas’ death penalty is unconstitutional. (Allison Kite/Kansas Reflector)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Jury selection procedures in capital murder cases discriminate against Black communities and individuals who oppose the death penalty because of their religious beliefs, lawyers seeking to overturn capital punishment in Kansas argued Tuesday.
A coalition of attorneys led by the American Civil Liberties Union filed a challenge earlier this month to Kansas’ death penalty and began arguing their case Monday in Wyandotte County District Court .
They continued Tuesday to build their case that capital punishment violates both the Kansas and U.S. constitutions, in part because prospective jurors who are opposed to the death penalty can be removed from the pool, making juries disproportionately white and more prone to convict. The practice, the ACLU argues, violates defendants’ rights to an impartial jury.