DOJ settles with Mississippi Police Department found to have often violated civil rights of Black residents

The city of Lexington, MS must reform its policing and court practices two years after a federal investigation documented widespread civil rights violations.

On Friday, the Justice Department announced it reached a settlement with the police force of Lexington, Mississippi, two years after an eye-opening report that said the police department often violated the civil rights of the citizens in the rural, majority Black-city about 65 miles outside of Jackson.

In its settlement with the Lexington Police Department, the DOJ says it is forcing reforms on the department, requiring the city and its police department to reform practices regarding several issues, from fines and bail to stops, searches and use of force and to bring them in line with guidelines mandated on a state and federal level.

According to the 2024 report, Lexington Police often singled out Black citizens for arrests, primarily for low-level offenses, to generate money for the police department and jailed individuals for extended periods of time should they not be able to afford to pay the fines.

The police department can no longer jail individuals for unpaid fines without assessing whether they can afford to resolve them as the practice is a direct violation of the 14th Amendment. The city court had previously issued warrants for more than 650 people, nearly half of Lexington’s population, for unpaid fines.

“Through these reforms, we seek not only to address the concerns identified in our investigation, but also to strengthen public trust and promote practices that respect the rights and dignity of every person,” U.S. Attorney J.E. Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi said in a news release.

Other conditions handed down in the out-of-court settlement include a dismissal of all exisiting warrants for unpaid fines and fees that violate the law, expunging the records of all unlawful fine-related conviction, aand a ban of quota or incentive systems regarding stops, warnings, citations, arrests or related revenue.