Kansas Supreme Court case no. 22,691, In re Walter McGee, George Andrews, and George Buckner, petitioners, was a challenge to Chapter 205 of the Kansas Laws of 1917. The law permitted the State Board of Health to enact a policy of quarantining men (and women), without a hearing, for the purpose of controlling the spread of venereal diseases. The Kansas State Quarantine Camp for Men, at the State Penitentiary in Lansing, was the place designated for isolating and treating the men, who were taken into custody in Topeka after being examined by the City Health Officer. Topeka passed its own version of the state law, ordinance no. 4832, in 1918, and copies of the ordinance are included in this file. The Kansas Supreme Court denied the petitioners' "application for a writ of habeas corpus" (claim that the state had detained them unlawfully) stating that the State Board of Health's actions were not unreasonable. The attorney representing the petitioners was Elisha Scott, a prominent African American attorney, whose firm later handled the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education case.
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In re Walter McGee, George Andrews, and George Buckner, petitioners, Kansas Supreme Court case no. 22,691 - 1