Author

Chris Lopez

Chris is a Kansas native and a current organizer with Decarcerate KC. He has an academic background in Political Science, Sustainability, and Environmental Science from Creighton University. He is currently on the Policy Coordinating Team at the KCMO Health Department overseeing the implementation of REACH KC, Kansas City’s first Pre-Arrest Diversion program, and was formally the Campaign Manager for the “No Taxation on Incarceration” campaign ran by Decarcerate KC in April 2025.

Chris's Latest Articles

CoreCivic Kills People. Leavenworth Is Voting on Whether to Let Them Do It Here.

By Chris Lopez ● Editorial ● March 10, 2026

Leavenworth was founded by pro-slavery settlers and became the epicenter of Bleeding Kansas. That same city votes today on whether to resurrect a CoreCivic detention facility — a company that has already killed people in its custody — and open a 1,000-bed ICE camp to kidnap, cage, and disappear immigrants from our region. The shackles have always looked different here. This morning, Leavenworth decides what they look like in 2026.