JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The Mississippi chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced a lawsuit against the city of Lexington and three police officers related to a high-profile arrest in 2023.

Attorney Jill Collen Jefferson and others filed a 2022 lawsuit on behalf of Lexington residents. They were alleged to be some of the victims of the Lexington Police Department’s (LPD) harassment and retaliation against Black citizens. In June 2023, LPD arrested Jefferson during a traffic stop. The ACLU lawsuit filed on May 14, 2025, alleged that Jefferson was unlawfully stopped and arrested, among other things.

complaint_-_jill_collen_jefferson_v_city_of_lexington_et_alDownload

According to the complaint shared by ACLU Mississippi, police charged Jefferson with blocking a public roadway to film a traffic stop, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. During Jefferson’s trial, a former LPD officer swore an affidavit that officers planned to arrest Jefferson. In February 2024, she was found guilty of all charges. The judge over the case later rescinded the guilty verdict against Jefferson.

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In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation against LPD. A September 2024 report from the DOJ found that LPD persistently violated the constitutional rights of its citizens. The lawsuit filed Wednesday referenced this report numerous times. Furthermore, it alleged that the violations committed against Jefferson paralleled the violations that the Justice Department found that LPD committed against other Black residents.

In addition to the case making it to trial, Jefferson seeks monetary damages against the officers who arrested and jailed her, as well as the city of Lexington. Others involved in filing the Wednesday complaint include the following parties: JULIAN, Jefferson’s civil rights non-profit; and Paul Hoffman, adjunct professor of the University of California, Irvine School of Law and partner in Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman, LLP.

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