District Court Judge Calls Kansas Death Penalty Racially Biased, Costly, and Ineffective as a Deterrent | Death Penalty Information Center

District Court Judge Calls Kansas Death Penalty Racially Biased, Costly, and Ineffective as a Deterrent | Death Penalty Information Center

On April 16, 2025, Wyandotte County District Judge Bill Klapper issued his order in the com­bined cas­es of Hugo Villaneuva-Morales and Antoine Fielder, broad­ly con­demn­ing the Kansas death penal­ty as cost­ly, racial­ly biased, and inef­fec­tive as a deter­rent. Judge Klapper’s order fol­lows an exten­sive evi­den­tiary hear­ing and pro­vides thor­ough and detailed find­ings on an array of con­sti­tu­tion­al ques­tions relat­ed to the use of …