The sheriff’s department in Madison County, Miss., has been systemically targeting Black residents to baseless searches and arresting them at disproportionate rates, according to a lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the suit on Monday, citing years of racial discrimination at the hands of the sheriff’s department. Ten individuals are named as plaintiffs in the suit, which is being filed against Sheriff Randall S. Tucker, six of Tucker’s unnamed deputies and Madison County.
“For Black residents, Madison County is a Constitution-free zone where their right to equal protection under the law and against unreasonable searches and seizures is nonexistent,” Jennifer Collins, executive director of the ACLU in Mississippi, said in a statement. “These practices force thousands of people to live in fear and under constant threat of being subject to suspicionless searches and arrests simply because of the color of their skin.”
