Teresa Woody, of Kansas Appleseed, and Kunyu Ching, of ACLU of Kansas, appear for a Sept. 6, 2024, recording of the Kansas Reflector podcast. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — The Wichita Police Department’s “gang list” that targeted young Black and Latino residents based on where they lived, the clothes they wore and funerals they attended will be overhauled after a federal judge approved a settlement agreement in August in a class-action lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed sued the City of Wichita in 2021 alleging constitutional violations on behalf of Progeny, a Wichita-based criminal justice reform organization that focuses on youth empowerment. The suit received class action status in 2023, and the Wichita City Council voted unanimously in April to settle the case for $625,000, which went toward litigation costs and the services of a Johnson County judge who will oversee implementation of the policy changes.
“On its inception, our clients were interested in pursuing a change in policy. They were not in it for the money, and so damages claims were never a part of the case,” said Kunyu Ching, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Kansas, in a conversation for the Kansas Reflector podcast.