After three years, Progeny v. City of Wichita, a lawsuit regarding the Wichita Police Department’s use of a gang list, is awaiting approval. If approved, some names that were incorrectly on the gang list will be removed, and the criteria for the database will change. The lawsuit was brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kansas and the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. The organizations argued that the list violated the 14th and 1st Amendment rights of those on it. Currently, members of the Wichita community do not have to be charged with a crime to be put into the database. It is at the discretion of law enforcement to determine if someone is suspicious of gang activity, and they can decide to enter them in the database. Teresa Woody with the Kansas Appleseed Center says that if the courts approve the settlement, there will be changes to the criteria and notification systems for the database. “The main point of the settlement is to vastly revise the criteria for putting people on the gang list in Wichita,” said Woody. “And to make those criteria related more to criminal activity than just normal activities that a person would do in their day.” She added that being labeled a “gang member” or “gang affiliate” can be detrimental to those on the list. “It basically labels you a criminal without ever having even to be charged with any kind of crime,” Woody said. “And obviously, that can have effects on where you can live and your job.” The final approval hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23 at 1:30 p.m. It will be open to the public and affected individuals can submit a comment or request to speak at the hearing. “It’s an opportunity for people to tell their own stories, explain to the court their experiences of being on the gang list and how deeply it’s affected them,” said Kunyu Ching, staff attorney at Kansas ACLU. “And to weigh in on whether or not they think this settlement is a good one or not.” There is no financial compensation for affected individuals in the settlement. “Our clients, our plaintiffs who have bravely stuck with this case for three years, they were never in it for the money,” Ching said. “(What) we asked for from the court was changes to the policy.” More information can be found at aclukansas.org/wichitaganglist. If you would like to request to speak at the final hearing, email twoody@kansasappleseed.org or kching@aclukansas.org. Submissions will close on Aug. 2.
Source: KSN-TV
