On March 12, 2015, three residents of Clanton, Alabama, filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Represented by attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the plaintiffs sued the Judicial Correction Services, Inc. ("JCS") and the city of Clanton. The plaintiffs filed their complaint pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1964(c) (RICO). They alleged that Clanton and JCS had entered into a contract where individuals who were unable to pay fines or court costs resulting from an arrest for a traffic violation or misdemeanor must enter "pay-only probation." Pay-only probation required these individuals to make regular payments to JCS and regularly report to a JCS employee in order to avoid being arrested again. The plaintiffs claimed that this effectively created a racketeering enterprise that extorted money from impoverished individuals under threat of jail and misused the criminal justice system for profit. As such, the plaintiffs requested declaratory and injunctive relief, voiding the contract between Clanton and JCS, as well as monetary damages.

On March 30, 2015, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint and also moved for class certification and a preliminary injunction. On April 21, 2015, both JCS and the city of Clanton moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim and lack of jurisdiction.

On June 16, 2015, the plaintiffs moved to dismiss the city of Clanton as a defendant, noting in an attached exhibit that the plaintiffs had reached a settlement agreement with Clanton. The agreement stipulated that Clanton had terminated its contract with JCS and that those with JCS pay-only probation would instead report directly to the Clanton Municipal Court. The agreement was set to last five years. On June 19, 2015, District Judge Myron H. Thompson entered judgment dismissing the city of Clanton and denying the city's motion to dismiss as moot. The plaintiffs also moved to withdraw their motion for a preliminary injunction and class certification, which the court granted on July 7. The case against JCS continued.

On August 19, 2016, the plaintiffs filed notice that the parties had reached a settlement agreement in principle. The court stayed further proceedings on August 24 as the parties finalized their settlement agreement. In a status report filed on December 7, 2016, the parties indicated they had finalized a settlement agreement, which was awaiting approval by the Bankruptcy Court where a plaintiff currently had proceedings. The status report indicated the parties would file a stipulation of dismissal once the Bankruptcy Court approved the settlement.

In Bankruptcy Court, Dwight H. Williams, Jr. approved a settlement agreement on December 8,. This agreement is not publicly available. Back in Civil District Court, on December 13, 2016, the parties filed a stipulation of dismissal. The court dismissed the case with prejudice the next day. The case is now closed.

John He - 10/19/2015
Virginia Weeks - 02/04/2018


compress summary