Unconstitutional ‘two-step’ traffic policy sees highway patrol ordered to pay $2.3 million — judge said it wasn’t ‘a fair fight’

The highway patrol had to pay $2.3 million after officers searched and seized vehicles to locate drug dealers without reasonable cause.

The ordered payment comes after U.S. District Court Judge Kathryn Vratil ruled that the Kansas Highway Patrol’s actions through its “Kansas Two-Step Policy” were unconstitutional and violated the 4th Amendment.

3

3

3

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, the national ACLU and the law firm Spencer Fane challenged the Kansas Highway Patrol’s search and seizure in court in 2020.

The $2.3 million will cover legal fees for the ACLU and Spencer Fane law firm, it was ordered on Friday.

The law firm Spencer Fane represented plaintiffs who challenged the constitutionality of Kansas’ two-step policy.

‘CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TRAMPED ON’

Officers following Kansas’ two-step policy would stop people for basic traffic violations and then ask whether the driver would voluntarily answer questions unrelated to the stop.

They then ordered roadside searches using drug-sniffing dogs, depending on people’s responses.

Lawyers for the Kansas Highway Patrol argued that the searches were how officers were doing their part in the war on drugs.

“As far as wars go, this one is relatively easy,” Vratil said in court in 2023.

“It’s simple and cheap and for drivers it’s not a fair fight.

“War is basically a matter of numbers: stop enough cars and you are bound to discover drugs.

“And what’s the problem if some constitutional rights are trampled along the way?”

PUT UP A FIGHT

An ACLU plaintiff, Joshuaa Breshears, was awarded $40,000 in 2023 due to an unconstitutional traffic stop by the Kansas Highway Patrol in 2019.

Sharon Brett, former legal director of the ACLU, referred to Kansas Highway Patrol traffic stops as degrading.

“These practices turn something minor, like a traffic violation, into a degrading and prolonged detention on the road,” Brett said in 2023, Kansas Reflector reported.

“When we give police the power to carry out these pretextual stops, we assume people are drug dealers and use flimsy justifications to get into their vehicles and prolong traffic stops.

“We transformed what should have been a simple ticket release scenario into something longer, tense and more complicated.”

Esmie Tseng, spokeswoman for the ACLU of Kansas, said she hopes the judge’s ruling will stop other government agencies from going against constitutional rights.

We believe that such an award does not just serve to justify our clients’ search for justice.

But also to send a message to recalcitrant government agencies that willfully ignore the Constitution’s fundamental protections for our civil rights.

Esmie Tseng, spokesperson for the ACLU of Kansas

“This was an incredibly resource-intensive case,” said ABC affiliate Tseng KAKE in Wichita reported.

“And we are extremely pleased that the district court recognized the value of the enormous amount of hard work that our entire team of dedicated attorneys and legal staff have dedicated to this case over the past four years.

“We believe that such an award does not just serve to justify the pursuit of justice on the part of our clients.

“But also to send a message to recalcitrant government agencies that willfully ignore the Constitution’s fundamental protections of our civil rights.”

The US Sun reached out to Candice Breshears of the Kansas Highway Patrol for comment.