Thursday, March 15, 2018

ACLU says Madison SO illegally profiles

The American Civil Liberties Union issued the following statement. 

ACLU Files Motion for Class Certification in Lawsuit Against Madison County Sheriff’s Department’s Disproportionate Targeting of Black Residents



March 14, 2018 – Jackson, MS - Black drivers and pedestrians who travel in majority Black neighborhoods in Madison County are disproportionately stopped at roadblocks and subjected to searches and seizures by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, according to more than six-months of evidence collected thus far by the ACLU of Mississippi. The evidence, which was presented in court filings as part of a motion for class certification in Brown v. Madison County, shows what has been felt in communities of color for decades: that the Madison County Sheriff’s Department operates a policing program that targets Black people and Black communities on the basis of race.





Attorneys with the ACLU of MS, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP presented data during a news conference that reflects how MCSD’s culture of discrimination directly impacts its policing of Madison County. The law enforcement agency has implemented and enforced an unwritten policy and longstanding practice of racially profiling Black individuals and disproportionately targeting Black communities through roadblocks, pedestrian stops, and other aggressive tactics.



The data shows that while Black residents make up only 38% of Madison County’s population, between 2012 and 2017:

  • Black individuals accounted for 77% of all arrests made by MCSD;
  • Black individuals accounted for 72% of all citations by MCSD;
  • Nearly 76% of MCSD arrests at roadblocks were of Black individuals; and
  • More than 74% of MCSD arrests at traffic stops were of Black individuals.

“MCSD’s own paperwork confirms that it targets Black citizens for arrest,” said Joshua Tom, legal director for the ACLU of MS. “In the course of our class certification discovery, MCSD officials produced template forms that deputies use in the course of their duties, and on those forms from at least two officers appear pre-populated checkboxes marking ‘black,’ ‘male,’ and ‘arrested.’ The evidence will show discriminatory and unconstitutional policing, and we are looking forward to presenting all of the facts as our case moves forward.”



The eight named plaintiffs proposed as class representatives are Black people—men and women ages 28 to 63—who were unconstitutionally stopped, searched, or arrested by the MCSD, sometimes violently, while they were merely walking to work, driving in their neighborhood, celebrating with family, or just spending time in their own homes.



Lawrence Blackmon is one of those plaintiffs. A MCSD deputy tackled and handcuffed him at gunpoint after he asked to see a warrant before allowing officers to enter into his home. He remained handcuffed while the officers searched his home, possibly without a valid warrant, in violation of the law. This incident “would not have happened to me if I were a white person,” said Blackmon.


“The data regarding MCSD’s policing practices is significant. Ending discriminatory policing will improve the lives of thousands of citizens in Madison County,” said Jonathan Youngwood, co-chair of the Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP’s litigation department.


This lawsuit seeks reforms that safeguard constitutional rights by promoting bias-free and evidence-based policing, transparency, and police accountability. The lawsuit also seeks improved training, supervision, monitoring, and discipline of MCSD personnel, and the collection and public release of data on all roadblocks, stops, and searches conducted by MCSD to permit further analysis of policing practices for compliance with the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.






Co-counsel Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is handling the case pro bono. For more information, please visit: https://www.stblaw.com/.

Earlier posts
Meet the ACLU Couple of the Year
Sheriff Tucker refuses to back down to ACLU
Where have we heard of Canton Estates before?
Check out the ACLU's clients.
ACLU sues Canton Estates for being too violent.
Sheriff Tucker responds.
Madison Sheriff: ACLU targets blacks.

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

Madison is one of the few places in Mississippi fit to live and people want to chance that. Do you really think that the ACLU brothers Mayor Mary. This kind of action by that group of left wingers will just sent Madison property values up more than normal. Come to Madison where is safe.

Anonymous said...

Wait. Could this mean that blacks commit a disproportionately high amount of crimes?

Anonymous said...

Mayor Hawkins has no bearing on the MCSO so 1:46 you lose. As for 2:17 could it mean the MCSO actually perpetuates a racist agenda?

Louis LeFleur said...

You do realize, Anon. 2:17, that some might label you racist for that comment.

Anonymous said...

Ah, Mississippi, where a person can proudly exclaim, "I have a Constitutional right to my guns!" Also heard in Mississippi, "Stop and arrest, without cause, all colored people!"

I wonder if the hard-line, right wing Mississippians will realize that they've willingly ceded the very freedom they're supposed to protect with all those 2nd Amendment guns.

Anonymous said...

The MCSO tries to arrest criminals and stop crime. Regardless of color. But the ACLU thinks criminals shouldn't be arrested if they are black.

Louis LeFleur said...

Oops! That last comment of mine was supposed to have a [rimshot!] at the end, but I think the exact syntax I used then made it invisible in blogscript. Anyway, yes, I was being sarcastic.

Anonymous said...

Last fall some ignorant deputies pulled over a car with several older teens who were looking for a house where a party was supposedly going on in Madison County (in an unincorporated area of the county, IIRC). The car occupants and driver were subjected to threats and abuse by at least one deputy who informed them they had no rights and must do what he told them to do. The occupants had to alcohol or illegal drugs when the car was searched, and were cooperative at all times.

Unfortunately for this armed bully one of the teens was the child of someone with clout (hint: MS has eight state-wide elected officials). These is an app called something like "Facetime" which was used to broadcast the entire incident to that parent with clout. Let's just say the sheriff was immediately informed of that official's displeasure with his deputy's blatant illegal threats and abusive behavior, and they were immediately allowed to leave after the sheriff got involved. My kid was one of the would-be partygoers and told me he couldn't believe what had happened.

Relevant point: all involved were Caucasians. MCSO abuse seems to be an equal-opportunity offender.

Anonymous said...

They are a bunch ‘socially advanced’ jerks who can’t find a job based on their skill sets so they leach off the taxpayers for ridiculous fees. Any thing involving race is a financial windfall for these vultures.

Anonymous said...

I am white and was profiled for having an out of state tag while driving at 10pm in Madison. I was leaving a neighborhood. He lit me up as soon as I turned to get on the interstate. Asked where I was coming from and where I was going. I thought about telling him that it was none of his business, but didn't really feel like an ass whipping. My father always told me to be respectful to officers, because once they have you, it can always get worse by attitude. Maybe if some of the fathers in Jackson would....wait, never mind.

The officer did actually tell me they had a suspect from my state in a couple of robberies. Bull shit. I was in an older car from another state at night. Instead of suing or getting into an altercation on the scene, I decided it was just a cop rightly profiling to prevent possible crime. No big deal. In fact, it is one of the reasons i moved to Madison when I moved back. The cops try to prevent crime a little, not just outline the head on the ground as sometimes happens down the road.

Messick said...

3:06,

To what are you referring by "all those 2nd Amendment guns"?



Anonymous said...

@ 3:59pm

"Let's just say the sheriff was immediately informed of that official's displeasure with his deputy's blatant illegal threats and abusive behavior, and they were immediately allowed to leave after the sheriff got involved."

You do know that's called white privilege? It's not equal opportunity offending when people walk away without getting arrested?

The Cell Next To Otis.. said...

Stops are one thing. Arrests are another. Regardless of the percentage of Caucasians and African-Americans in Madison County, when you arrest people suspected of illegal activity, you don't try to ensure a proportionate share of white and black. That would make no sense.

Who the hell actually thinks the cops need to stop and take an inventory at ten o'clock each evening to see if they've arrested the same number of black and white? Well.....the ACLU does.

Messick said...

HERE COME THE DONNERS! HERE COME THE DONNERS!!!!

Anonymous said...

I love Madison County!!! It is the Good Life.

Anonymous said...

I would really like to know what normal, law abiding, tax paying type black folks that live in Madison think about this.

Do they feel they are being targeted by police?

OR

Do they think that black people and white people commit the same amount of crime but black people are arrested more because the police are racist?

-Genuine wondering of some white dude

Anonymous said...

The police and sheriffs deputies are not stupid. They understand that the Madison county residents who count (white middle-upper class) would like to limit the number of black people coming into the County. But they don't like the label of red-neck. (That's reserved for certain Rankin County types). And you can always justify those traffic stops and pat downs by citing the crime statistics. As long as the victims are black they are potential perps. No matter their income, no matter their conduct. Black that's all. So there's a wink and a nod for the law enforcement hard asses who make it a little "uncomfortable' for Blacks even when they haven't done anything. It's called a "gentlemen's understanding". Sometime it's not so gentle.

Anonymous said...

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is one of the most powerful law firms in the country. They likely took in more money last year than ALL of the attorneys in the entire state of Mississippi combined.

Cornbread and Coffee said...

"Black drivers and pedestrians who travel in majority Black neighborhoods in Madison County are disproportionately stopped"

ACLU can't math.

Anonymous said...

Message to Randy Tucker. If the ACLU is against you, then you are doing something right. Good work sheriff.

Anonymous said...

The ACLU is NOT for civil liberties. They are for liberal liberties ONLY. They are for equal treatment under the law, as long as minorities get special treatment.

F the ACLU.

Anonymous said...

we live in a police state. Get over it

Anonymous said...

It's a big shakedown by the lawyers using the ACLU as the mouth piece. The Law firm uses super computers to compute every city in the nation to find a slam dunk court case & then they file it. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP could give a shit less about civil rights, but they do care about MONEY. MO MONEY!

Anonymous said...

It would appear that Causation versus Correlation was not taught at the ACLU law school....

Anonymous said...

Black people that I have talked to about black people getting stopped or arrested more often than whites, firmly believe that whites and blacks commit approximately the same amount of crime but white people just do not get arrested nearly as often because police/deputies just let them go.

Anonymous said...

My brother-in-law is black and used to drive a high end car. He was repeatedly stopped by LEO's and questioned about his job, his car, where he was going, where he was coming from and so on. Mind you he doesn't speed. He makes annoyingly complete stops at stop signs. Why? Because as a black male he was taught to live with wide margins. My sister realized early on in their relationship that no matter how many excuses she made for the police that the variable was his race. Once my nephew came along and was old enough to begin to ask questions about being stopped- they had a long preschool commute and the same officers stopped them repeatedly- she begged him to purchase a less high profile car. She worried about the one day out of a hundred he didn't feel like saying "Yes sir" or explaining about where he worked and where he lived. Now, that he drives a less flashy vehicle he gets stopped a lot less. So, there may be some legitimate stopping of truly suspicious people. But, there is also still too much stopping because a person of color is driving a nice vehicle in a nice neighborhood and some folks either don't think it is right or possible.

Anonymous said...

Problems we don’t have in Ocean Springs!!

Anonymous said...

There are definitely problems with the MCSO. That said, those stats are skewed due to the large white populations living in Madison and Ridgeland where those cities are patrolled by the city police departments. So the population figure usedby the plaintiffs are not relevant and should exclude city populations.

Anonymous said...

On the news yesterday, the ACLU showed that the majority of the MCSO traffic stops of African American drivers were for seat belt and child restraint violations......wear your seat belt, strap your kid in and get some insurance and you wont have a problem.

The ACLU hasn't once mentioned that one of the complainants in their suit has another suit against the apartment complex that he and several of the other complainants live in Canton for being too dangerous. The MCSO goes out to try and remedy the situation and BAMM!!!! ACLU law suit for racial profiling.....go figure.

Anonymous said...

I guess the principle of " Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto YOU" is lost to history.

It's hard to believe that none of you have known African American people that are honest, hardworking folks or successful businessmen and professionals. There are more than a few in Mississippi who graduated from top universities with honors. My goodness, do you never talk to the people who don't look just like you?

If you did bother to actually talk to African Americans, you'd find out that " Driving While Black" is a common experience for them and unlike us in our rare traffic stops, they are treated rudely and as suspects. Any questioning of the reason for a stop quickly becomes " resisting an arrest". I'm old and have never been asked to " step out of the car", had my car searched without cause and been roughly pushed against the car and cuffed when stopped during a traffic violation.

How many instances can you cite of a white teenager shot and killed while trying to sneak back in his own house? How many white people have been shot and killed for a traffic violations? How many white children are shot by law enforcement?

You want to cite selective statistics.

You are all forgetting that tags can be run as well.

The notion that all deputies have good judgment and never abuse the only power they've ever had in their lives is ridiculous.

Profiling would be useful if any of these people knew how to profile or could be guaranteed to even have common sense, but they don't. A good profile is not JUST about skin color.

Since you don't see the value of The Golden Rule, how about getting out the log in your own eye or just setting the example of holding your own race responsible for bad acts?



.

Anonymous said...

How much of this crap occurs in Supervisor Paul Griffin's district? Let's connect some dots here after we break off into focus groups.

Anonymous said...

this simpson thacher law firm are outside yankee agitators who have come to the south to to disrupt our way of life. all you good ole boys need to git in your pickup trucks and git down to that legislature and have them bring back the sovereignty commission soes as to stop this corruption of our traditions hear in the south. on the way back home stock up on bed sheets and 2x 4s soes to build some crosses. make sure you do this undercover . dont wear your overalls and cat hats. wear you costa sunglasses, you expensive columbia fishing shirts and for gods sake dont have no beer in you yeti cooler, just expensive bottled water.

Anonymous said...

to march 15 @ 7:22 PLEASE tell us more about using' supercomputers to find a slam dunk case'. this i got to hear.

Anonymous said...

If there is a crime problem in part of a city, sending cops to another part of the city does not make sense. If a criminal lives in a certain area it does not make sense looking for him in another area.
People who live in high crime areas should appreciate cops coming into the neighborhood, except if they are the criminals the cops are looking for.
Before judging a police force in any city it would be a good idea to look at the area of the city that has the most crime. Police should be more visible in that area.
Not a hard thing to understand.

Anonymous said...

There is a simple solution to this problem and it is "wear your seatbelt". While we are addressing this issue, why not put your seat belt on when you see a blue light in front of or behind you.

Anonymous said...

@9:31

What in the world is wrong with your sister?

Anonymous said...

I read that some officers have arrest reports they were using that had black and male checked off before the stop. If proven to be true, this alone will force the department into a consent decree with training and oversight required.

Anonymous said...

That's a lie, 12:12. You didn't read that. You made it up.

Flake Geldman said...

Much of the anonymous commentary on this is complete fabrication.

Anonymous said...

1:47 read the filings.

Anonymous said...

This is the same 'logic' the left used in Ferguson, MO to pretend they were racists. The left wants to pretend that people of all races commit crimes at the same rate. Why? That must be why we have 50% white players in the NBA??? Think back before cell phones, when you actually dialed phone numbers. Did you get a racially proportianal number of wrong numbers? I grew up in a town of 20% blacks. But when someone called my house by mistake, about 80% of the time a black person made the call. If you have a lot of arrests of blacks who are not guilty, it would follow that the conviction rate for blacks is much lower than for whites. So where is that stat ACLU? If these people aren't guilty, then they aren't convicted. They never say that. Makes me think the are convicted. No racism, just blacks who commit more crimes. And all crimes aren't intentional. No seat belt, and running a stop sign are just sloppiness - like dialing a wrong number.

Anonymous said...

I read it too, they were filling out the race and gender before the stop.

Anonymous said...

"If these people aren't guilty, then they aren't convicted. "

Project Innocence has freed 100s of people who were convicted despite not being guilty. Try to keep up to date.

Anonymous said...

I could be wrong but if it's the sheriff's department, doesn't that mean that these arrest are in the unincorporated parts of the county. If that's the case then those statistics are seriously skewed - the unincorporated parts of Madison County have a much larger % of blacks, so comparing the % to all of Madison County (including the large and majority white city of Madison) completely distorts the 70%+ stats - very typical class action lawyer/ACLU trickery.

Anonymous said...

"I read it too, they were filling out the race and gender before the stop."

I read that Yogi Berra, Jay Leno and Robin Williams are brothers and between the three of them, they came up with 90% of everything people quote. And I'm telling that at the grocery store, church and the club because it has to be true.

Anonymous said...

I got to thinking earlier...can anybody recall the name of Jackson's police chief?

Anonymous said...

Growing up in another state and living near a major holiday lake, I can’t count the number of times I was stopped for ID, Tags, and insurance check. This was an effort to reduce the number of drunk drivers around a holiday area. If you are not breaking the law, then what is the issue? Get legal and stop your whining.

Anonymous said...

The good ole boys in Rankin aren't that stupid.

Anonymous said...

MCSO does not patrol city limits. If you take out the demographics of City of Madison and City of Ridgeland, your percentages will not be nearly so skewed.



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