On June 30, 2017, the plaintiff, a private probation company operating in Craighead County, called the Justice Network, filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The plaintiff sued, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, two district court judges, Craighead County, and the various cities that the judges had jurisdiction over in their capacity as a city judge. The plaintiff, represented by private counsel, sought injunctive and monetary relief, claiming violations of the Contracts Clause and Takings Clause of the United States Constitution. The plaintiff alleged that the two defendant-judges instituted an “Amnesty Program” that forgave fees owed by probation clients to the plaintiff, which interfered with the contractual relationship that existed between the plaintiff and its probation clients. Furthermore, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant-judges used their judicial office and powers to unlawfully take plaintiff’s substantial property rights without due process of law.

The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint on August 9, 2017. They alleged that the plaintiff had failed to state a claim for which relief could be granted. On October 24, 2017, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law filed an amicus brief in favor of the defendants. The Lawyers' Committee argued that the defendants were justified in ending local courts' relationship with Justice Network because it made money by trapping poor minorities who were consigned to probation for petty crimes into a cycle of debt to ensure their imprisonment.

On November 28, 2017, District Judge James M. Moody Jr. granted the defendants' motion to dismiss and held that the two judges were entitled to absolute judicial immunity against all of the plaintiff’s claims. He further held that the County and City defendants were not liable because the two judges were not authorized policymakers of the City and County so that the actions of the defendant-judges should not be imputed to the City and County defendants. 2017 WL 5762397.

On December 20, 2017, the plaintiff appealed Judge Moody Jr.’s order to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

On July 26, 2019, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Chief Judge Smith, and Circuit Judges Kelly and Kobes) issued an opinion and affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of the lawsuit. The Circuit Court held that the defendant-judges are entitled to judicial immunity on the plaintiff’s claims. In addition, the Court held that the judges were state government officials whose actions were not attributable to Craighead County or the City defendants. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the district court’s ruling. On August 21, a mandate in accordance with the Circuit Court’s opinion was issued.

There has been no further docket activities, so the case is presumed to be closed.

Lisa Limb - 01/14/2018
Sichun Liu - 01/20/2020


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