Entries tagged with “Antoine Fielder”
May 19, 2025
District Court Judge Calls Kansas Death Penalty Racially Biased, Costly, and Ineffective as a Deterrent
On April 16, 2025, Wyandotte County District Judge Bill Klapper issued his order in the combined cases of Hugo Villaneuva-Morales and Antoine Fielder, broadly condemning the Kansas death penalty as costly, racially biased, and ineffective as a deterrent. Judge Klapper’s order follows an extensive evidentiary hearing and provides thorough and detailed findings on an array of constitutional questions related to the use of the death penalty in the state. Mr. Villaneuva-Morales and Mr. Fielder…
Oct 29, 2024
Hearings Begin on Constitutional Challenge to Kansas’ Death Penalty and Capital Jury Selection Process
On October 28, 2024, hearings began in Kansas’ Wyandotte County District Court regarding the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty and its capital jury selection process. A coalition of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, the ACLU of Kansas, the Kansas Death Penalty Unit, and the law firms Hogan Lovells and Ali & Lockwood brought the challenge. The team argues that the death penalty, which is rarely used in Kansas, is “arbitrary, racially discriminatory, unreliable, and unnecessary”…