Lawsuit: Kansas Highway Patrol targets out-of-state drivers

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A federal court filing alleges that the Kansas Highway Patrol has a practice of unlawfully targeting motorists based on their out-of-state license plates or Colorado travel plans, due to that state's legalization of marijuana.

Among the allegations contained in the new filing are statistics showing that drivers with out-of-state plates made up 93% of all of the agency's traffic stops in 2017.

What began as a hand-scrawled complaint filed last December by two irate drivers themselves in federal court got some legal firepower on Thursday when the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and a Missouri law firm filed an amended complaint.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says it cannot comment on pending litigation.