RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – The ACLU of Mississippi and the Center for Constitutional Rights announced they filed a public records lawsuit seeking information about the “Goon Squad” case.
Officials with the ACLU said they’re seeking information about the Rankin County District Attorney’s Office’s handling of criminal legal cases in which sheriff deputies had engaged in a pattern of misconduct and abuse for nearly two decades.
ACLU of Mississippi demands transparency in police oversight cases
The Department of Justice prosecuted Rankin County deputies, who were known as the “Goon Squad,” for federal criminal civil rights violations related to the violent assaults of two Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker.
Six former law enforcement officers pled guilty and were sentenced in connection to the Goon Squad case.
Following the revelations, the civil rights organizations filed a request under the Mississippi Public Records Act (MPRA) to the Rankin County District Attorney’s Office. They said the request sought records relating to any actions the office took in response to the exposed police misconduct. According to the ACLU, the District Attorney’s office initially refused to disclose any documents related to its response to the misconduct revelations and later disclosed only one email to a journalist…