Residents and visitors who sued Lexington police have settled their federal lawsuits over what they alleged was a pattern of misconduct including excessive force, unlawful search and seizures, retaliatory arrests and detentions without due process, the ACLU of Mississippi announced Monday.
Amounts of the settlement were not disclosed, and the deal came with no admission or finding of liability or wrongdoing by the defendants, according to the ACLU. The lawsuits were against the city, the police department, several named officers and former police chiefs Sam Dobbins and Charles Henderson.
“Police hold a powerful role in our society. While performing that role, they must balance enforcing the law and protecting constitutional rights. This settlement helps achieve that balance for the LPD, our clients and the residents of Lexington,” Joshua Tom, legal director at the ACLU of Mississippi, said in a statement.
One plaintiff, Deborah Powell, alleged in her 2024 lawsuit that in her 2024 lawsuit that Lexington officers threw her to the ground and put her in jail for days just for trying to get a court-ordered reimbursement from the police department.
Javarius Russell, who is also a law enforcement officer, alleged in his 2023 lawsuit that police arrested him for a vehicle crash he said didn’t happen and jailed him over a long weekend. Former chief Dobbins told him if he paid $2,700, he would be released and the charges dropped.
Plaintiff Andrial Young alleged in his 2024 lawsuit that officers stopped his car saying that he failed to wear a seatbelt, but he had one on. Officers claimed they smelled marijuana and asked to search his vehicle. Young declined the search, leading officers to remove him and search the car, anyway. They did not find any illegal substances. After the search, officers arrested Young and detained him for hours at the police station.
On Monday, the three plaintiffs said the settlement, which was signed off on by the court, has brought them some justice.
“I hope this settlement helps Lexington improve its policing in the future,” Young said.
Dobbins was Lexington’s chief until his 2022 firing days after the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting first reported him using racist and homophobic language when he bragged about killing multiple people while working as a law enforcement officer.
Henderson, Dobbins’ second in command, became the new police chief and served until January of this year, when his certification was suspended due to a violation of the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics. The alleged violation took place in Jackson in November 2024 when Henderson worked for the Jackson Police Department.
Lexington went through two interim police chiefs before hiring David Simmons in May.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a pattern and practice investigation into the Lexington police and its investigation report detailing the department’s violations of the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments. The DOJ found Lexington police jailed people for unpaid fines without determining whether people could afford to pay, resulting in a “two-tiered system of justice.”
This year, the Lexington Board of Aldermen adopted some Justice Department recommendations, including efforts to ensure officers who make stops, searches and arrests are authorized to use force with clear direction, that they have sufficient training and supervision and that the department improves record-keeping to hold officers accountable for inappropriate or unlawful conduct.
The ACLU of Mississippi partnered with law firms Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, O’Melveny & Myers, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, which worked on the lawsuits pro bono.
Craig C. Martin, lead counsel for Willkie, said the settlement shows clients’ courage, the team’s hard work and a chance to restore trust and integrity in Lexington.
The Lexington lawsuits were part of the ACLU of Missisisppi’s Police Accountability Initiative, which focuses on police violence, racial discrimination and unconstitutional policing practices around the state through litigation, advocacy and partnerships.
In the Monday statement, the ACLU of Mississippi said it will continue work on police accountability and reform and its support of people affected by unconstitutional policing. police accountability and reform and its support of community members affected by unconstitutional policing.
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