Several inmates in Kansas Prisons have sued the Kansas Secretary of Corrections and the Wardens of the Lansing, Ellsworth and Topeka Correctional facilities. They say conditions in those prisons put them at risk for contracting the novel coronavirus COVID 19. They claim this risk violates their constitutional rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. In the suit, they ask for the early release for some inmates, a plan of isolation of those who have been exposed to or infected with COVID 19, and a plan for social distancing within the prison and unrestricted access to soap and other sanitation products during the outbreak. The Kansas Supreme Court was going to hear arguments this afternoon, but has cancelled that hearing and transferred jurisdiction to the Leavenworth County District Court.
