Police at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport have ended a controversial drug interdiction program that involved stopping travelers on jet bridges, taking their tickets and searching their luggage, according to the organization that sued on behalf of two entertainers subjected to the encounters.
A spokesman for the Policing Project at NYU School of Law said Tuesday that the Clayton County Police Department had agreed to settle the lawsuit by entertainers Eric André and Clayton English, with the dismissal was filed Friday in federal court.
“It’s a major victory that Clayton County has confirmed that it has ended this program and is now taking steps to prevent this type of abuse from happening in the future,” André said in a statement.
English said he was wronged and that he decided to sue so it wouldn’t happen to other people. “We held Clayton County accountable, and now the county has confirmed that the program is gone and new protections are in place to protect travelers’ rights,” he said in a statement.
Clayton agreed to an undisclosed sum as part of its settlement with the entertainers, according to the Policing Project.
An officer who answered the Clayton County Police Department’s media line around noon had no immediate comment.
Barry Friedman, founder and faculty director of the Policing Project, said in a statement that the entertainers were victims of racial profiling.
“The data we have shows our clients and many others were singled out for unconstitutional stops because of their race,” he said. “This happens often when officers are encouraged to stop individuals, receive inadequate training, and have too much discretion.”
The Policing Project reports on its website that during the relevant period 56% of stopped passengers were Black while 8% of passengers were Black.
André and English sued in late 2022 after they were each stopped in separate but nearly identical circumstances several months apart.
A federal district court judge dismissed the lawsuit, finding no constitutional violations. But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision last year, finding that the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged violations of their Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable government search and seizure.
That decision will guide courts and police within the 11th U.S. Circuit, which includes Georgia, Alabama and Florida.
“They clarified the rules on how to determine if someone has been seized at an airport,” said Nancy Glass, litigation director at the Policing Project. “So, I think it’s fair to characterize that as a landmark decision that’s going to have a lot of influence down the line on how police act and how courts rule.”
She said the decision could also influence courts across the country.
Although the legality of a search and seizure depends on the specific circumstances, Glass said this decision narrowed what the courts will deem as acceptable.
As part of the settlement, Clayton police agreed to equip officers at the airport with body cameras and to give them training on the constitutional limits governing police encounters at airports, according to the Policing Project.
The Policing Project and lead counsel Jones Day represented the two entertainers, with Canfield Law LLC and Krevolin & Horst LLC serving as co-counsel.
The case also attracted amicus briefs from conservative and liberal groups, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Cato Institute. The plaintiffs also found support from well-known entertainers, such as Tyler Perry and Jamie Foxx.
Ty Tagami writes for Capitol Beat News Service
