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An act concerning crimes and punishments and procedures relating thereto
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: February 20, 1990
The Kansas Legislature passed Senate Bill 77 in 1990. Known as the "hard-40" bill, the bill allowed for a maximum forty-year prison sentence for persons convicted of premeditated murder. In 1972, the U. S. Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia overturned capital punishment laws in many states, including Kansas. A strong supporter of capital punishment, Governor Mike Hayden signed the forty-year bill after efforts to pass a death penalty bill failed in the legislature. Kansas did not reinstate capital punishment until 1994.
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An act concerning crimes and punishments and procedures relating thereto
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: January 31, 1985-April 09, 1985
The Kansas Legislature passed H.B. 2135 on April 2, 1985. The bill proposed to reinstate capital punishment in Kansas. In 1972, the U. S. Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia overturned capital punishment laws in many states, including Kansas. Governor John Carlin vetoed the bill, his fourth and final veto of a death penalty bill during his eight year administration. The legislature failed to override the veto. Kansas reinstituted capital punishment in 1994. The cover sheet recording legislative and gubernatorial action on the legislation is included with the vetoed bill.
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An act relating to crimes and penalties
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: 1935
With the capital punishment law repealed in 1907, the Kansas Legislature made several unsuccessful attempts at reinstatement in 1927, 1931, and 1933. In 1935, the legislature succeeded in reinstating the death penalty with House Bill 10. This bill file includes several different versions of the bill. The final version of the bill prescribes the punishment of death or life imprisonment for persons convicted of first degree murder. The bill allows the jury trying the case to decide the form of punishment. Although Kansas abolished the death penalty in 1907, no executions by state authority had occurred since 1870. See also, "Punishment for Murder in the First and Second Degree," Laws of Kansas, 1935, Chapter 154.
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An act relating to crimes punishable by death
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: 1935
With the capital punishment law repealed in 1907, the Kansas Legislature made several unsuccessful attempts at reinstatement in 1927, 1931, and 1933. In 1935, the legislature succeeded in reinstating the death penalty with House Bill 10. A companion bill, House Bill 11 (1935), prescribed hanging as the method for inflicting the death penalty in all cases. The bill also provided for the executioner, the time and place of execution, and cases of insanity, pregnancy, and escape. Although Kansas abolished the death penalty in 1907, no executions by state authority had occurred since 1870.
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An act relating to kidnaping in the first degree
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: 1955
In 1955, the Kansas Legislature expanded the state's capital punishment law with Senate Bill 80 to include the crime of kidnapping. Since the death penalty was reinstated in Kansas in 1935, after its repeal in 1907, only persons convicted of first degree murder were eligible for execution. Senate Bill 80 limits the application of the death penalty to kidnappers who have harmed their captives, though in case of a jury trial the jury is to assign the punishment. While no state-authorized executions occurred in Kansas between 1870-1944, the state executed fifteen persons between 1944-1965.
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An act to repeal all poll tax laws in the state of Kansas
Creator: House of Representatives
Date: January 1913
This act was created by the Kansas House of Representatives in an attempt to do away with any poll taxing which required Kansas voters to pay a small fee before being able to cast their ballot. Poll taxing affected people of all races in Kansas. This act was not passed. Poll taxing continued in Kansas until the early 1960s when a federal amendment was passed which made poll taxing unconstitutional in all states.
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A petition on Negro suffrage
Date: 1867
This petition by an unknown group of Kansas residents asks the state legislature to support suffrage for black males. The petitioners support removing the word "white" from articles five and eight of the state constitution. At that time the Kansas constitution limited suffrage to white males. The petition outlines six reasons why suffrage should be extended to black males. In 1867, the state legislature approved an amendment supporting black male suffrage but white male voters defeated the amendment in a public referendum. Voters also defeated a similar amendment supporting white, female suffrage. These proposed amendments followed the Kansas legislature's ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which defined who were citizens, including Negroes.
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Concurrent resolution amending the constitution of the state of Kansas
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: February 18, 1867
This resolution by the Kansas state legislature calls for an election on an amendment to the state constitution supporting black male suffrage. If approved by the white male voters, the word "white" would be removed from the state constitution, particularly section one of article five, thereby allowing black males to vote. This amendment to the Kansas constitution was defeated. The issue became moot in 1870 with the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which made it illegal to deny a citizen the right to vote because of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
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Governor John Carlin veto message on capital punishment bill
Creator: Carlin, John, 1940-
Date: April 04, 1985
Governor Carlin's message to the Kansas House of Representatives vetoing H.B. 2135, a bill to reinstate capital punishment in Kansas. In 1972, the U. S. Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia overturned capital punishment laws in many states, including Kansas. This was Governor Carlin's fourth and final veto of a death penalty bill during his eight year administration. Carlin explains that he opposes capital punishment because it did not meet the "standards for punishment in a civilized society." The legislature failed to override the veto. Kansas reinstituted capital punishment in 1994.
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House Bill 602, Committee on Irrigation, Kansas Legislature
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: 1891
An act providing for and regulating the diversion appropriation, storage and distribution of waters in Kansas for industrial purposes within prescribed limits and the construction, maintenance, and operation of creating and providing for water districts.
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House Concurrent Resolution No 48. Proposing amendment to the constitution
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: February 13, 1867-February 14, 1867
Adopted by the House and approved by the Senate of the Kansas Legislature at Topeka, this resolution proposed to strike the word "Male" from section one, article five of the state constitution in support of woman suffrage. A public referendum of male voters ultimately defeated the amendment, but it attracted national attention and brought leading suffragists to campaign in the state. The resolution followed the state's ratification of the fourteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution and competed closely with a similar resolution proposing Negro suffrage.
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Ku Klux Klan bill
Creator: Johnson, Douglas
Date: 1925
Kansas state senator Douglas Johnson introduced Senate Bill No. 269 which was known as the Ku Klux Klan bill. By amending sections 17-501 and 17-503 of a 1923 revised Kansas statute, the bill would have allowed any foreign, charitable, or religious group to operate in Kansas without a state charter. Many Kansans opposed the bill on the grounds that it would have made it easier for the KKK to operate in the state. Governor Paulen opposed the bill and the house defeated its passing with 57 yes and 65 no. During the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan grew in numbers nationwide and enjoyed immense popularity.
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