Civil Rights and Wrongs for March 8, 2022

This Tuesday Amanda Woog returns to update us on the work of the Texas Fair Defense Project, where she is the Executive Director.  Their mission is to fight to end the criminalization of poverty in Texas. TFDP envisions a system of justice that upholds the dignity and civil rights of all people, regardless of income, race, or gender.  We also have Jim Harrington, retired founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project.  And Michelle Manning-Scott, Associate Producer of the show, joins us as well.

Later we speak with Brant Bingamon from the Austin Chronicle.  (Austin Sanders is out this week.)  Brant discusses the four settlements to date in civil lawsuits that charge excessive use of force by APD officers during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Austin.  The most recent settlement was approved by City Council on Thursday, awarding $2.95 million to Brad Levi Ayala, who suffered serious brain injuries from a “less lethal” bean-bag round fired at his head.