David Harris, Local Author on Criminal Justice Presented by Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures

David Harris has written about criminal justice for almost 30 years, but the story of Jordan Miles has dominated much of his work in the past decade. After being beaten by police officers during a 2010 arrest, Miles sued for wrongful arrest and excessive force, eventually winning a $125,000 settlement in 2016. The story might not be fresh on the national scale but it's still in the minds of many Pittsburghers and echoes persistently in stories of police brutality and race in media today. In an appearance at Carnegie Library Music Hall, Harris — a Pittsburgh author, podcaster, and chair at the University of Pittsburgh Law School — will discuss the Miles case and his book A City Divided: Race, Fear and the Law in Police Confrontations. The talk will explore "not just what happened but why, what the stakes are, and, most importantly, what we must do differently to avoid these public-safety catastrophes."