Yesterday, a federal court rejected Brookside, Alabama’s attempt to dismiss IJ’s class action lawsuit against the town’s notoriously abusive fining scheme, securing a major first-round win for IJ and our clients.

Government officials take an oath to serve and protect the public. But in Brookside, officers have been using their police powers to ticket and collect. In this small town of fewer than 1,300 residents, hundreds of individuals share similar stories:

• They were pulled over for a patently spurious reason, or with no explanation at all.
  
  
• As soon as an officer walked up to their car, a tow truck had already arrived. Ability to safely drive had no bearing on the decision to tow.
  
  
• Charges were fabricated on the scene. One minor infraction could turn into a dozen or more stacked charges, each carrying hefty fines and court costs.
  
  
• They were handcuffed and searched, and then their car was impounded. Often, police would refuse to look at insurance information to justify taking the vehicle under “no insurance” allegations.
  
  
• Innocent people were left stranded on the side of the highway—some with their children as young as two years old.
  
  
• And all were forced to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get their cars back. Many lost cars permanently because they could not afford the steep fees.

Brittany Coleman is one of hundreds of people abused by Brookside police. Click to watch their stories.

This outrageous scheme increased Brookside’s fines and fees revenue by 640% between 2018 and 2020, coming to account for nearly half the town’s budget (with most going right back to the police department). In a single year, the police force collected the equivalent of $487 in fines and forfeitures from every man, woman, and child in Brookside—and towed one vehicle for every two residents.

Our class action is the most comprehensive and sweeping challenge to these predatory practices. And yesterday, the court sided with IJ on every single aspect of our case, making it clear that they understand exactly what is at stake:

"[IJ is] seeking to dismantle the financial incentive system for law enforcement that the Town allegedly erected beginning in March 2018—a system that allegedly caused the Town to be investigated by the Alabama Attorney General’s office. None of the Town’s authorities apply the Fourth Amendment to that type of claim, and none supports the rule that the Town proposed, under which it would not offend Due Process for a municipality to operate a financially-biased police department, prosecutor’s office, and judiciary so long as certain individual searches and seizures might be ‘objective[ly] reasonable.'"

We are now poised to end the town’s abuses—and this perverse financial incentive system—once and for all.

Please join IJ with your support today. We would be honored to count you among the loyal supporters who equip us to pursue justice while securing constitutional protections for property rights, due process, and other fundamental freedoms.

Scott

Scott G. Bullock

President and Chief Counsel

Institute for Justice

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