Kansas Supreme Court won't consider case of Statehouse protesters the Schwabs

The Kansas Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of Raymond and Amelia Schwab — two Colorado residents who protested on the steps of the Statehouse for six weeks this spring — bringing an end to their legal saga in state courts.

“Considered by the court and denied,” wrote Chief Justice Lawton Nuss on Friday in response to each of four appeals by Raymond Schwab.

The Schwabs’ case became a rallying cry for marijuana advocates and critics of child welfare agencies across the Midwest and beyond when they alleged four of their children were placed in state custody due to the Kansas Department of Children and Families’ pejorative opinions on medical marijuana, which Raymond Schwab uses to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

That claim was undermined by a Kansas Court of Appeals ruling April 8 that determined the children were taken into state custody because of “allegations of drug use, neglect and lack of supervision,” not medical marijuana use.

After the Court of Appeals ruling, the Schwabs fired their attorney, Rachel Hockenbarger, because of her lack of faith in their case. Raymond Schwab then appealed the decision to the Kansas Supreme Court, where he intended to represent himself. The court’s refusal to hear the case will deny him that opportunity.

The Court of Appeals ruling came in the midst of a hunger strike by Raymond Schwab. The couple was granted a 30-day permit to protest on the Statehouse grounds, setting up a makeshift camp that became a hub of activist activity in March and April. They hosted frequent news conferences and rallies, where they denounced state officials as kidnappers and child abusers.

The Court of Appeals ruling brought to light details about life within the Schwabs’ home that had previously been confidential, including a short letter from their 15-year-old son.

“I ... for the past month or two have had to take care of five children in (the Schwabs’) home,” the boy wrote. “I had to buy meals and make them while both parents were in house sleeping or fighting. Whenever they fought I took five children upstairs and had to protect them from both parents, they were scared.”

The boy, who isn’t named in court documents because of his age, wrote that he had been pulled out of school to care for the younger children, ages 4-12. As he cared for his stepsiblings, he said, their parents, Raymond and Amelia Schwab, slept for days.

“My mother told me she and dad had been doing meth and that I had to save the kids,” the boy wrote. “My dad threatened me saying he would kick me out of the house or hit me if I talk to anyone.”

The Schwabs, who didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday, have denied the letter’s veracity, claiming it was written by vindictive relatives. They have alleged a conspiracy involving state agencies, judges and law enforcement officers has robbed them of their children.

“Nothing in there is true,” Amelia Schwab said of the Court of Appeals ruling in April.

The Schwabs’ legal hopes now hinge on a federal lawsuit they filed in March against nearly 30 defendants, including the state of Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback and DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore. The lawsuit reiterates the couples’ claims that their children were removed due to Raymond Schwab’s medical marijuana use, a violation of their due process rights under the 14th Amendment.

“The actions of the defendants in taking the children while the Schwabs were in the process of moving to Colorado based on Raymond Schwab’s use of a plant that has been shown in studies to significantly reduce the symptoms associated with PTSD when no other prescription drug or remedy has been effective in doing so objectively shocks the conscience of any reasonable person,” the Schwabs state.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction returning the children to the couple, a judge’s declaration that Raymond Schwab has a fundamental right to use medical marijuana and a judge’s declaration that the state cannot end the Schwabs’ parental rights “based solely on possession and use of cannabis” to treat PTSD.

A separate effort, led by former gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Winn, is attempting to garner 3,100 signatures in Sedgwick County in hopes of convening a grand jury to investigate Brownback, Gilmore and family court judges. Winn has been a vocal supporter of the Schwabs.