Austin Gets Compared to a Lot of Cities. But Is Life Better There?

Shopping for home

"...it’s the far-right state government depriving you of your civil rights, the scorching, climate-change-fueled summers, the cost of housing,..."

Feb. 21, 2025 News Feature by Abe Asher

Plantations to Prison Farms: How Far Have We Come?

Texas’ tradition of forced labor lives on

"...On a 90-degree June day at Memorial Unit in Southeast Texas, the humidity makes the heat cling..."

June 14, 2024 News Feature by Maggie Quinlan

Opinion: Incarcerated Women in Texas Need to Be Heard

A writer in her eighth year of solitary confinement laments widespread neglect of the experiences of women in prison

"...In December of last year, the Texas Civil Rights Project released a 20-plus-page report titled “Solitary Confinement..."

March 29, 2024 Column by Kwaneta Harris

Calls for Federal Hate Crime Investigation Follow Stabbing of Palestinian American in Austin

After Sunday’s statewide protest, a young man was attacked

"...the offense to a bias-motivated crime not the investigative unit.” Baker was arrested on a charge of second-degree aggravated..."

Feb. 6, 2024 News Post by Lina Fisher

Headlines / Quote of the Week

"...way...: As this tension escalated, the country’s oldest Latino civil rights group, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC),..."

Feb. 2, 2024 News Feature

The Debate Over How and Whether to Jail Kids in Austin Is Just Getting Started

Travis County proposes a new facility to hold kids accused of crimes

"...another attorney, the current head of the district attorney’s civil rights unit, Dexter Gilford...."

Jan. 26, 2024 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

Here’s What You Missed in the First Three Days of Officer Christopher Taylor’s Murder Trial

Court is in session

"...course of their investigation, detectives with APD's Special Investiga­tions Unit interviewed several witnesses to the shooting but were not..."

Oct. 27, 2023 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Prosecution Makes Opening Statements in Murder Trial of APD Officer

Christopher Taylor is accused of murdering Michael Ramos

"...Dexter Gilford, who leads the Civil Rights Unit at the Travis County District Attorney’s Office,..."

Oct. 23, 2023 News Post by Austin Sanders

Trial of APD Officer Will Be One of the Most Consequential in Austin History

Here’s what it could mean for our city and for how law enforcement is held accountable

"...too. Travis County District Attorney José Garza has his Civil Rights Unit prosecuting the case (led by Dexter Gillford..."

Oct. 20, 2023 News Feature by Austin Sanders

City Employees Blast Civil Rights Office Reorganization

Labor and justice advocates worry equity is being deprioritized

"...the shared building of the NAACP and the city Civil Rights Office, criticizing Inter­im City Manager Jesús Garza's proposal..."

Sept. 15, 2023 News Feature by Lina Fisher

Lawsuits Are Mounting Against Abbott's Border Operation

The Department of Justice, ACLU of Texas challenge scheme

"...now faces legal battles on two fronts. The American Civil Liberties Union, Texas Fair Defense Project, and law firm..."

Aug. 25, 2023 News Feature by Benton Graham

Texas GOP Still Set on Sending Vigilantes to the Border

Frightening border bills haven't passed yet, but might in special session

"...wide-ranging border security bill, included a state-run "Border Protection Unit" that would have power to "deter and repel persons..."

June 2, 2023 News Feature by Benton Graham

Here's What a New Border Bill Would Do to Texas

"Most dangerous" immigration bill ever takes the stage

"...House Bill 20 would create a border protection unit that would allow the state to enforce immigration laws..."

March 22, 2023 News Post by Benton Graham

SXSW Documentary Exhumes a Personal History Folk Icon and Activist Joan Baez

The Diamonds & Rust of Joan Baez I Am a Noise

"...Her rise to international stardom as a teenager, her civil rights and anti-war activism, and her high-profile personal relationships..."

March 10, 2023 Screens Feature by Doug Freeman

D.A. Drops Charges Against One Officer (of 19) in Eighth Street Shootings

Nicholas Gebhart faced trial in Brad Ayala case

"...Travis County grand jury. Dexter Gillford, who leads the Civil Rights Unit within the D.A.’s Office, explained that since..."

Feb. 3, 2023 News Post by Austin Sanders

The Mayor’s Race Offers Clear Choices on How Austin Should Grow

Election marks a critical juncture on the way to Austin's future

"...included a global pandemic and a major rupture in police-community relations, during which Council members understandably paid less attention..."

Oct. 14, 2022 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Investigation Finds Hostile Work Environment in Civil Rights Office

Things fall apart

"...fall. Carol Johnson, head of the city's Office of Civil Rights, remains on administrative leave as the city determines..."

July 22, 2022 News Feature by Maggie Quinlan

Pushing for Real Police Oversight in Contract and on the Ballot

What exactly is a G File?

"...to Texas municipalities whose police officers (or firefighters) are civil service employees – that is, ones that don't have..."

July 15, 2022 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

What’s a Grand Jury, and Is It Being Manipulated to Indict Police Officers?

More cops are being indicted, but why all the secrecy?

"...a group of people like you, from your own community...."

June 24, 2022 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

Judge Kocurek Backs Out of Upcoming Eighth Street Trials

Judge seeks recusal after telling D.A.'s Office she "felt betrayed"

"...filed April 25 by Dexter Gilford, head of the Civil Rights Unit in the Travis County District Attorney's Office,..."

May 6, 2022 News Feature by Austin Sanders

District Judge Backs Out of Upcoming Eighth Street Trials

Kocurek seeks recusal after telling DA’s office she “felt betrayed”

"...filed April 25 by Dexter Gilford, head of the Civil Rights Unit in the Travis County District Attorney’s Office,..."

May 2, 2022 News Post by Austin Sanders

Austin on Forefront of Addressing Excessive Force Used by Police During Protests

Shock and awe at mass indictment in Black Lives Matter protest shootings

"...mesh bags filled with lead-shot pellets – crowd control munitions often referred to as "bean bag rounds." (The 20th..."

Feb. 25, 2022 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

D.A. Indicts 19 Austin Police for Assault in 2020 BLM Protest Response

Charges for 8th St. shootings send shockwaves among law enforcement

"...mesh bags filled with lead shot - crowd control munitions often referred to as bean bag rounds. Officers shot..."

Feb. 18, 2022 News Post by Brant Bingamon

Proposed Development Would Revive Austin Opera House but Faces Neighbor Opposition

200 Academy Drive: Big hit or last call?

"...motel) or to build up to 36 or 54 units per acre (depending on those units' size) of multifamily..."

Jan. 21, 2022 News Feature by Kevin Curtin

What Happened After Last Summer's Black Lives Matter Protests? APD Won't Say.

City doesn't want to make after-action report reviewing APD's response public

"...response to "large protests, riots, or other acts of civil disobedience that might occur in the future."..."

Sept. 24, 2021 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Two APD Officers Indicted for Murder in 2019 Shooting of Mauris DeSilva

Death led to calls for better mental health crisis response

"...DeSilva’s father Athige Denzil DeSilva has filed a civil lawsuit against the two officers and the city of..."

Aug. 27, 2021 News Post by Austin Sanders

District Attorney Drops Assault Case Against APD Officer

D.A. Office's internal review of Gentry case uncovers previously undisclosed exculpatory evidence

"...that in the final weeks of her administration, the Civil Rights Unit – tasked with prosecuting officers accused of..."

July 23, 2021 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Headlines / Quote of the Week

"...an open position on the Travis County D.A.'s Office Civil Rights Unit. The CRU, which has existed since 2017,..."

May 28, 2021 News Feature

The Ugly End to Jason Dusterhoft's Police Career Was Only the Beginning for APD

Three chiefs gone in Austin

"...And once Manley was finished, Dusterhoft took the opportunity to lay out these claims to Arellano. Or, as..."

May 7, 2021 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

Austin Leans in Hard to Change TxDOT’s Mind on I-35

The road not taken

"...the process. Right now is one of four designated opportunities for public engagement; we're in the "scoping" phase, which..."

April 2, 2021 News Feature by Mike Clark-Madison

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