Your Partner in the Profession | February 2020 • Vol. 89 • No. 2 Justice Delayed: My Journey Inside the Secret Tent Courts Where Refugees are Being Denied Dignity and Due Process by Rekha Sharma-Crawford P 6 Resting in Pieces: Why Family Harmony is a Frequent Casualty of Most Estate Plans by Tim O’Sullivan P 32 Paper checks are notoriously unreliable. They get lost in the mail, they get tossed in the laundry, and they carry a lot of sensitive information around with them wherever they go. LawPay changes all of that. Give your clients the flexibility to pay you from anywhere, anytime. Most importantly, we ensure you stay in compliance with ABA and IOLTA guidelines. Proud Member Benefit Provider 888-281-8915 or visit lawpay.com/ksbar 6| Justice Delayed: My Journey Inside the Secret Tent Courts Where Refugees are Being Denied Dignity and Due Process by Rekha Sharma-Crawford 32| Resting in Pieces: Why Family Harmony is a Frequent Casualty of Most Estate Plans by Tim O’Sullivan Cover Design by Ryan Purcell Special Features 21 | 2020 Legislative Preview ...............................................................Joseph N. Molina III 25 | DCF Series: Child Welfare System Task Force Update .........................Linda Gallagher 51 | Intersection of Domestic, CINC, and Juvenile Offender Laws, and What Lawyers Should Advise Clients About Them .............................................. Hon. Kevin M. Smith Regular Features 15 | KBA President 57 | Law Students’ Corner There are Not Enough Hours in a Day— Environmental Justice—It’s Our Problem, Too How We Should Treat Our Most Valuable Resource ............................................................. Hannah Lustman ...........................................................Mira Mdivani 60 | Members in the News 18 | YLS President Active Educational Outreach is Part of YLS Mission: 62 | Obituaries Looking Ahead to Law Day 2020 ...Mitch Biebighauser 65 | Appellate Decisions 20 | February CLEs Love to Learn? Take a CLE! 71 | Appellate Practice Reminders Have 2020 Vision The Year: Appellate Courts ....... 24 | Kansas Bar Foundation Docket Weeks .............................. Douglas T. Shima Need a Trust Account? Consider IOLTA 72 | Advertising Directory NEW 28 | Law Practice Management Tips and Tricks The Consumer Electronics Show ........ Larry Zimmerman 73 | Classified Advertisements www.ksbar.org | February 2020 3 E Let your VOICE TH 2019-20 be KBA Officers & Board of Governors Heard! JOURNAL President OF THE KANSAS BAR ASSOCIATION Mira Mdivani, MMdivani@uslegalimmigration.com President-elect 2019-20 Charles E. Branson, cbranson@douglas-county.com Journal Board of Editors Vice President Cheryl Whelan, cwhelan@ksbar.org Emily Grant (Topeka), chair, emily.grant@washburn.edu Secretary-Treasurer Nancy Morales Gonzalez, nancy.gonzalez@ssa.gov Sarah G. Briley (Wichita), sbriley@morrislaing.com Hon. David E. Bruns (Topeka), brunsd@kscourts.org Immediate Past President Hon. Sarah E. Warner, warners@kscourts.org Richard L. Budden (Kansas City), rbudden@sjblaw.com Boyd A. Byers (Wichita), bbyers@foulston.com Young Lawyers Section President Mitch Biebighauser, mitch_biebighauser@fd.org Jennifer Cocking (Topeka), jcocking@capfed.com Connie S. Hamilton (Manhattan), jcham999@gmail.com District 1 Michael J. Fleming, mike@kapkewillerth.com Michael T. Jilka (Lawrence), mjilka@jilkalaw.com Katie A. McClaflin, kmcclaflin@mkmlawkc.com Lisa R. Jones (Ft. Myers, FL), ljones@fgcu.edu Diana Toman, dianatoman@gmail.com Casey R. Law (McPherson), claw@bwisecounsel.com District 2 Hon. Robert E. Nugent (Wichita), judge_nugent@ksb.uscourts.gov Bethany Roberts, broberts@barberemerson.com Professor John C. Peck (Lawrence), jpeck@ku.edu District 3 Rachael K. Pirner (Wichita), rkpirner@twgfirm.com Angela M. Meyer, angela@angelameyerlaw.com Richard D. Ralls (Overland Park), rallslaw@turnkeymail.com District 4 Karen Renwick (Kansas City), krenwick@wrrsvlaw.com Brian L. Williams, bwilliams.lawoffice@gmail.com Jennifer Salva (Kansas City), jenniferhsalva@gmail.com District 5 Teresa M. Schreffler (Wichita), tschreffler@gmail.com Vincent Cox, vcox@cavlem.com Richard H. Seaton Sr. (Manhattan), seatonlaw@sbcglobal.com Terri J. Pemberton, tpemberton@kcc.ks.gov Sarah B. Shattuck (Ashland), bootes@ucom.net District 6 Richard D. Smith (Topeka), rich.smith@ag.ks.gov Tish S. Morrical, tish.morrical@hamptonlaw.com Marty M. Snyder (Topeka), marty.snyder@ag.ks.gov District 7 Patti Van Slyke, Journal Editor & Staff Liaison, pvanslyke@ksbar.org Gary L. Ayers, gayers@foulston.com Hon. Jeffrey E. Goering, jgoering@dc18.org Catherine A. Walter (Topeka), cwalter@topeka.org Megan S. Monsour, mmonsour@hinklaw.com Meg Wickham, Dir. of Communications & Member Svcs., mwickham@ksbar.org District 8 Issaku Yamaashi (Overland Park), iyamaashi@foulston.com Gaye B. Tibbets, tibbets@hitefanning.com Natalie Yoza (Topeka), nyoza@ksbar.org District 9 Aaron L. Kite, aaron@rbr3.com The Journal Board of Editors is responsible for the selection and editing of all substantive legal articles that appear in The Journal of the Kansas Bar Association. District 10 The board reviews all article submissions during its quarterly meetings (January, Gregory A. 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Find out more about your KBA-endorsed carrier at www.alpsnet.com/kbajournal malpractice insurance for the law firm (800) 367-2577 www.alpsnet.com learnmorewww.ksbar.org@alpsn | e Februaryt.co 2020m 5 Justice Denied: My journey inside the secret tent courts where refugees are being denied dignity and due process A First Hand Report by Rekha Sharma-Crawford “What I saw was not due process. It was not the rule of law. It was lawlessness.” ourts are supposed to be about due process, fairness radical departure from long-standing asylum procedure that and the rule of law. Yet, I did not find justice at work puts migrants at risk of new violence. in the canvas tents set up near the southern border In Brownsville, I saw that the injustices do not end there. Cto house secretive immigration courts. Advocates had, for months, warned of unconstitutional treatment of migrants On hearing days, Customs and Border Protection agents and fundamental breakdowns in the judicial process. allow migrants to cross from Matamoros to Brownsville into an unnamed city of tents. The canvas cloaks beige shipping Given the stakes, I had to see it for myself. containers, which have been converted into “courtrooms.” Early in December 2019, as a Kansas City attorney fighting Unlike those found across the United States, which are open for the rights of immigrants and refugees, I flew to Browns- to the public, this “courthouse” is inaccessible except to a ville, Texas and crossed into Matamoros, Mexico where hun- limited few. Security guards allow only those with official, dreds of Central American migrants are waiting for their turn approved business to pass through the chain-link gates and to see an immigration judge. Under the “Migrant Protection locked doors. The public is