United States v. City of Meridian
| Decision Date | 23 February 2022 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL Act. 3:13-cv-978 HTW-LGI |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PLAINTIFF v. CITY OF MERIDIAN; STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES; and MISSISSIPPI DIVISION OF YOUTH SERVICES DEFENDANTS |
ORDER TERMINATING SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI
Before this court is the Joint Motion [doc. no. 131] of the parties the Plaintiff United States of America and Defendant City of Meridian, Mississippi (collectively, “the Parties”), for an order terminating the Settlement Agreement [doc. no. 83] entered in this case.
The Parties are in agreement that City of Meridian is in “substantial compliance” with all provisions of the Settlement Agreement, and that the City has maintained substantial compliance with the provisions of the Agreement for well over one year. The terms of the Agreement provide at Section VII.B. that the Agreement may be terminated “when the City has achieved substantial compliance with all substantive provisions of this Agreement and has maintained that substantial compliance for 12 twelve consecutive months.” Order of Entry of Settlement Agreement. [doc. no. 83 p.13].
In December of 2011, the United States notified the City of Meridian, Mississippi, and Lauderdale County, Mississippi that it was investigating their administration of juvenile justice pursuant to the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Title 34 U.S.C. § 12601[1](formerly cited as 42 U.S.C § 14141). On June 29, 2012, the United States notified the State of Mississippi that it had expanded its investigation to include the Mississippi Division of Youth Services, a division of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
On August 10, 2012, the United States issued a letter informing these Defendants[2] it had determined they were violating the rights of children in Meridian, located in Lauderdale County, Mississippi. The letter advised, among other things, that there was reasonable cause to believe the City of Meridian, Mississippi, Police Department had a pattern or practice of arresting public school students without probable cause to believe that an illegal offense had been committed, thereby engaging in unconstitutional conduct. As a consequence, although denying the allegations, the City of Meridian revised its policy limiting the circumstances under which police officers could arrest youths on school grounds.
The United States, not agreeing that the problem had been fully remedied, filed the instant lawsuit on October 24, 2012, against the City of Meridian; the Lauderdale County Youth Court Judges; Lauderdale County; the State of Mississippi; the Mississippi Department of Human Services; and the Mississippi Division of Youth Services [doc. no. 1].
For subject matter jurisdiction, this court relied upon 28 U.S.C. § 1331[3] which grants to federal district courts original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. Federal question subject matter jurisdiction was present, since this lawsuit arose under the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act, a federal enactment. See 34 U.S.C. § 12601.
Title 34 U.S.C. §12601(b) allows the United States Attorney General to bring a civil action, for or in the name of the United States, if the Attorney General can show there is a “pattern or practice of conduct” by a governmental authority responsible for juvenile justice that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. 34 U.S.C. §12601.
Jurisdiction was also granted to this court under 28 U.S.C. § 1345[4] which grants to the federal district courts original jurisdiction of suits brought by the United States or an agency or officer of the United States.
The United States asserted that the Defendants, including the City of Meridian, helped to operate a “school-to-prison pipeline” by arresting, adjudicating, and incarcerating children for school infractions without exercising appropriate discretion and without regard for the Defendants' obligations under the United States Constitution. Complaint [doc. no. 1 at 9].
The “school to prison pipeline” term was coined on the notion that these practices tended to push students out of the classroom and into the juvenile justice system, the streets, and eventually into the adult criminal justice system. Deborah N. Archer, Introduction: Challenging the School-to-Prison Pipeline, 54 N.Y. L. SCH. L. REV. 867, 868 (2009). Challengers to this development contend that these practices are part of a nation-wide trend toward law enforcement punishing behavior that was once disciplined within the school - conduct which is much more likely to result in a child having a criminal record than a high school diploma. See Jennifer M. Grieco, Pipelines and Their Diverging Paths to the Justice System, 98 Mich. B.J. 12 (January, 2019).
The school to prison pipeline is referred to by one writer as a “controversial concept and a disappointing reality.” Areto A. Imoukhuede, The Right to Public Education and the School to Prison Pipeline, 12 Alb. Gov't L. Rev. 52, 52-53 (2019)
Studies have shown that some groups of students are disproportionately impacted by this trend. Students of color and students with disabilities tend to be disciplined more harshly and are more frequently referred to law enforcement for minimal misbehavior. Saady, Throwing Children Away: The School-to-Prison Pipeline, The American Conservative (August 13, 2018) https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/throwing-children-away-the-school-to-prison-pipeline/>. Eventually these students drop out of school or are pushed out of school.
The United States accuses the City of Meridian of nefarious policies and practices which have contributed to maintaining this pipeline.[5] According to the United States, the rate of expulsions and out-of-school suspensions by the Meridian School District for longer than ten days was almost seven times the rate for Mississippi schools, generally. During the 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 school years and the first semester of the 2009-2010 school year, the United States said, all of the students referred to law enforcement by the Meridian School District were black, all of the students expelled were black, and 96 percent of the students suspended were black.[6] Complaint [doc. no. 1 pp. 8-9]. At the time, the population of the City of Meridian was approximately 62% black, 36% white, 2% Hispanic, and 1% Asian. The Meridian Public School District had a student enrollment that was approximately 86% black, 12% white, 1% Hispanic, and 1% Asian. Complaint [doc. no.1 pp. 8-9].
The United States provided the following unsettling statements:
MPD [Meridian Police Department] automatically arrests all students referred to MPD by the [school] District, [which] employs a system of severe and arbitrary discipline that disproportionately impacts black children and children with disabilities . . . the children arrested by MPD are then sent to the County juvenile justice system, where existing due process protections are illusory and inadequate . . . The Youth Court places children on probation, and the terms of the probation set by the Youth Court and DYS [Department of Youth Services] require children once on probation to serve any suspensions from school incarcerated in the juvenile detention center. Once Defendants -- collectively the administrators of the juvenile justice system -- place a child from the District in this cycle, he or she is repeatedly subjected to unconstitutional government action and potential incarceration without procedural safeguards.
The United States' Complaint alleged that these entities were violating the substantive and procedural due process rights of the students subject to jurisdiction of the Lauderdale County Youth Court, including the systematic arrest and incarceration of students for minor, technical violations which should be handled by the schools as matters for school discipline or suspensions. Complaint [doc. no.1 p.1]
The Meridian Police Department (“MPD”), according to the United States' Complaint, automatically arrested all of the children referred to it. Complaint [doc. no.1 p.9]. Between 2006 and the first semester of 2009, says the United States, all the children referred to law enforcement by the Meridian School District were black. Arrest of a student involved handcuffing the child regardless of age and transporting the child to either MPD headquarters or, if the child was on probation, directly to the Juvenile Center. The infractions that resulted in these arrests ranged from conduct generally considered criminal, such as possession of drugs or weapons, to conduct that would be considered only a school disciplinary infraction, such as being disrespectful, refusal to follow directions of a teacher or using profanity. Complaint [doc. no.1 p.1]
According to the United States, the school district's system of punishment was so severe and arbitrary as to “shock the conscience.” Complaint [doc. no.1 p.2]. The Complaint continued: “Children are regularly and repeatedly handcuffed and arrested in schools and incarcerated for days at a time without a probable cause hearing, regardless of the severity - or lack thereof - of the alleged offense or probation violation.[7] Complaint [doc. no.1 p.2].
In March of 2012, the Meridian School district established an internal police department, the Meridian Public School District Police Department. It initially consisted of four “school resource officers” including a...
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