BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (CN) - Chekeithia Grant was planning to host a 60th birthday party for her mother in Birmingham. Between her home in Walker County and the party site, attendees had to drive through the police jurisdiction of the small town of Brookside, population 1,253.
It was there along Interstate 22 on the day of the party that Grant's daughter was pulled over by a Brookside police officer for speeding. Grant arrived at the scene shortly afterward to assist her daughter, but that's when things "spiraled out of control."
Both women were arrested and jailed on several misdemeanor charges while their cars were towed. By the time they bonded out and paid vehicle recovery fees, the birthday party was long over.
"It was hard," Grant said Wednesday, standing on the steps in front of the Hugo L. Black Courthouse in Birmingham. "It was also very draining to our pockets to say the least. Police are here to serve and protect, not ticket and collect. When that gets flipped around, a lot of people get hurt."
Grant and other class action plaintiffs were in the courtroom on a motion to approve a preliminary settlement agreement with Brookside, which acknowledged a multi-year "policing for profit" scheme where traffic fines and court costs helped drive municipal revenue.
During the hearing, U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, a Donald Trump appointee, expressed concerns about the settlement's potential effect on two separate but similar lawsuits concurrently litigated in federal court, and whether it could result in possible violations of the first-to-file doctrine.
Attorney Jaba Tsitsuashvili of the Institute for Justice, which is representing the case pro bono, characterized the doctrine as essentially a "who decides" mechanism and explicitly agreed with the court that its goal had been met.
"The outcome that the doctrine is designed to reach, which is bring everybody into the same courthouse and in front of the same judge, has happened," he said.
Tsitsuashvili also suggested plaintiffs' attorneys in the other cases raised the first-to-file doctrine to block his clients' more advanced settlement, even though plaintiffs in the other cases are also class members entitled their share of the settlement.
Representing plaintiffs in other cases, attorney Brian Clark argued that both the statute of limitations and the firstfiled rule weighed against letting the settlement go forward as is, especially from the viewpoint of the earlierfiled case. He noted the settlement fund looks very different if it has to cover 600 versus 1,200 or 1,800 people.
Clark acknowledged Manasco likely has the power to approve a settlement, but warned that allowing a laterfiled case to settle first could set a precedent where lawyers in a second case can effectively jump ahead of those who filed and sought class certification first.
Manasco appeared skeptical, but invited Clark to submit supplemental briefs to further his argument. She did not indicate when she would release an order.
Evidence discovered during the case showed the town collected more than $1.5 million in court costs and fines from traffic offenses between 2018-2022, comprising more than 50% of general fund revenues at the height of the scheme. The town also collected more than $230,000 in towing fees during the same time, assessing $165 on top of charges levied by a third party private company.
The U.S. Department of Justice intervened and subsequent mediation resulted in a sweeping settlement agreement with both monetary compensation and systemic relief.
In addition to $1.5 million in cash payments to the people harmed by Brookside's practices, the town will also cover up to $155,000 to run the claims process. Brookside has also tentatively agreed to repeal its towing-fee rules, cancel all unpaid fines and drop pending prosecutions, keep none of its fines-and-fees revenue for the next five years, and no more than 2.5% for 30 years.
Brookside police will be prohibited from patrolling I-22 for 10 years and the town prosecutor must help people obtain pardons and clear their records, while giving every municipal-court defendant a clear notice of their rights. The town must also freeze pay raises for the judge and prosecutor for 10 years, post town ordinances, council meetings, and contracts online for public view, and issue a formal public apology.
"All of that is designed to make sure that the profit incentive from policing is eliminated," Tsitsuashvili said. "I think this settlement would be a huge win for everybody who's been impacted by Brookside's policing for profit system. And it should also send a clear message to other towns, both in Alabama and elsewhere, that you're not supposed to link policing and profit. You're supposed to police for the public interest and for the public good."
Each class member may apply to receive between $250 and $2,000 in restitution.
Source: Courthouse News Service
