By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief
Good morning! State Sen. Patrick Schmidt attacked political rival Adam Hamilton — both are seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate — over his handling of sex abuse at a church retreat in 2005. But as Anna Kaminski reports, court records show the church disclosed the abuse to police after identifying the predator.
Opinion editor Clay Wirestone is writing about the value of free speech (he even wrote a book about it) in the face of the Legislature’s attacks on the First Amendment.
We’re also reporting on a Kansas Supreme Court ruling, the prospect of purging voter rolls, and the president’s plans for a White House ballroom.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
U.S. Senate candidate in Kansas faults Democratic rival’s handling of reported sex abuse
TOPEKA — A Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate on Wednesday denigrated the race’s frontrunner, accusing him of covering up a child sex abuse scandal at the church he leads and demanding he withdraw his candidacy.
Patrick Schmidt, a state senator from Topeka, faulted pastor Adam Hamilton for his handling of reported child sex abuse at a church retreat two decades ago.
Court records show the church investigated the abuse and eventually reported it to law enforcement. Hamilton’s campaign said Schmidt was using the pain of families to engage in “false and defamatory attacks.”
Kansas Reflector
OPINION
Kansas opinion writers penned a free speech legacy. Lawmakers have trashed their priceless example.
By Clay Wirestone
Our nation marks 250 years this summer, and while the accomplishments and shortcomings of this nation have been documented and debated ceaselessly, I like to think that one unalloyed good of our American experiment is the freedom of speech.
Call it the First Amendment, a free press or just the right to say whatever you damn well please, but freedom of speech has served this nation and state in good stead since their founding and 1776 and 1861.
Not that many Kansas legislators understand.
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
Kansas Supreme Court tosses conviction of man found guilty of breaking court order that didn’t exist
TOPEKA — The Kansas Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a man in a troubled relationship with the mother of his children who was found guilty of violating a protection from abuse order that had never been issued against him.
Justices of the Supreme Court on Friday agreed with a 2024 decision by the Kansas Court of Appeals that John C.T. Boese was improperly found guilty of breaking a protection from “abuse” order by Marion County District Judge Susan Robson. That verdict was imposed despite evidence during the bench trial supporting only Boese’s violation of the protection from “stalking” order that had been granted in 2021 to M.M., who feared for her safety amid threats of domestic violence attributed to Boese.
States could purge voter rolls close to elections if Supreme Court takes Trump’s side in Arizona case
The Trump administration wants the U.S. Supreme Court to empower states to review their voter rolls for noncitizens just days before elections, a change that voting rights advocates say would risk disenfranchising Americans.
Trump administration seizes on shooting to make case again for White House ballroom
WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued in a court filing that a shooting Saturday in the vicinity of the White House further proves the need for an East Wing ballroom with “a heavy steel, drone proof roof, missile resistant and drone proof columns, bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass,” among other features.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Kansas Reflector staff will participate in the following free public forums.
6:30 p.m. June 12, Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone will join a panel discussion: "From the Desk of William Allen White: What Can Journalism Today Learn from the Sage of Emporia?"
5:30 p.m. June 16, Bradbury Alumni Center at Washburn University in Topeka. Editor-in-chief Sherman Smith will lead a discussion on the proposed constitutional amendment to elect Kansas Supreme Court justices. Host: Kansas Appleseed. Register here.
6 p.m. June 24, Groover Labs in Wichita. Editor-in-chief Sherman Smith will lead a discussion on the proposed constitutional amendment to elect Kansas Supreme Court justices. Host: Kansas Appleseed. Register here.
6 p.m. June 25, Clint Bowyer Community Building in Emporia. Editor-in-chief Sherman Smith will lead a discussion on the proposed constitutional amendment to elect Kansas Supreme Court justices. Host: Kansas Appleseed. Register here.
7 p.m. June 27, Park City Senior Center. Host: Park City Community Pride.
2 p.m. Sept. 27, Red Rocks Visitor Center in Emporia. Host: Red Rocks.
If you're interested in having us talk in your town, email Sherman Smith at [email protected].
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