DOJ: Lawsuit should proceed over town’s police fines

Featured Legal News

The Justice Department is urging a federal judge to let a class-action lawsuit go forward against an Alabama town accused of policing for profit with excessive fines and aggressive enforcement of local laws.

The U.S. attorney’s office this week filed a statement of interest in the civil lawsuit against Brookside. The lawsuit was filed by four people who paid hundred of dollars in fines and said they were humiliated by what they described as a scheme to boost town revenue.

Brookside is seeking to dismiss the lawsuit. The Justice Department argued that it should proceed against the police department and local officials.

“Courts, prosecutors, and police should be driven by justice—not revenue,” an assistant U.S. attorney wrote in the court filing.

The Justice Department said the United States has an interest in enforcing federal laws regarding the imposition and enforcement of unlawful fines and fees. “The United States also has an interest in addressing practices that punish people for their poverty, in violation of their constitutional rights.”

Al.com reported in January that Brookside, which has a population of 1,253, saw revenue from fines and forfeitures jump 640 percent between 2018 and 2020 and grew to make up half the city’s total income.

Lawyers for the town, in seeking to dismiss the case, wrote in a court filing that, “very little is necessary to show that the fines and fees imposed by the Town of Brookside and/or the Brookside Municipal Court are rationally related to a governmental interest.”

Institute for Justice, a group representing the plaintiffs in the case, welcomed the Justice Department action.

“The Justice Department’s statement recognizes that Brookside’s abusive system of policing for profit violates the Constitution, and that the town should be held accountable,” Jaba Tsitsuashvili, a lawyer with the group, said in a statement.

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Processing Change for Certain Form I-730 Petitions

USCIS changed the processing location for certain Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, filings. Previously the Service Center Operations Directorate processed these filings. Now, the International Adjudications Support Branch (IASB) in the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate will process the petitions filed by individuals who were admitted to the United States as refugees. Petitioners and/or accredited representatives who file refugee-based Form I-730 petitions will receive further instructions when IASB receives their filings. Form I-730 petitions filed by persons granted asylum will not be affected by this change. The mailing instructions for Form I-730 remain the same. Petitioners should continue to follow the Where to File directions on the Form I-730 page. This policy update is consistent with the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Standard Occupational Classification system. DOL defines economists as people who conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy. Economists may collect and process economic and statistical data using sampling techniques and econometric methods.