The KY Resources Council has filed an amicus brief asking the KY Supreme Court to strike down Senate Bill 126, otherwise known as the “change of venue” law.
KRC was joined in this action by the ACLU of Kentucky and the Kentucky Equal Justice Center.
The bill, passed during this year’s legislative session, allows a state official or agency involved in a lawsuit to move the hearing of the suit to a randomly chosen circuit court anywhere in the state, rather than the location where the suit was filed. This obviously makes it more difficult for the plaintiffs to pursue their rights in court.
The KRC brief alleges that the law is unconstitutional. As noted in the brief,
SB 126 operates as a ready device for state officials to selectively dissuade andpunishKentuckians who challenge unconstitutionalstate action, and to deprive those litigants—and only them—of traditionalsafeguards afforded to all other litigants. The ACLU of Kentuckyagrees with petitioners that SB 126 violates numerous provisions of the Kentucky Constitutionand is therefore void.
You can read the entire brief below.
