Senior Citizens Jailed for Exposing Corruption

In the United States, elected officials, citizens, and journalists must feel free to express differences of opinion. When those in power intimidate their opponents into silence, it strikes at the heart of American governance. But holding officials accountable when they violate basic constitutional rights can be nearly impossible, especially when they are law enforcers. A new Institute for Justice lawsuit seeks to change that. Escambia County is in lower Alabama on the border of the Florida Panhandle. Like many American counties, the public schools are governed by a county school board and a superintendent. In 2021, the Board hired Michele McClung as superintendent. Her contract was for three school years. McClung quickly developed a close relationship with local officials, including the district attorney, county sheriff, and a few board members. But two years into her tenure, state auditors called a meeting with the Board about the district’s financial practices. Despite the issues with ongoing audit, McClung’s allies in Escambia County rallied around her and even tried to extend her contract. In August 2023, McClung’s allies sprung a surprise vote at a Board meeting to extend McClung’s contract for another four years. The timing was highly unusual and more than six months ahead of schedule. The vote ultimately failed three votes to four. That’s when things really went off the rails. Two of the “no” votes were Sherry Digmon and Cindy Jackson. Sherry has long been a Board member. She also started Atmore News back in 2005, which is a weekly newspaper covering Escambia County. Like Sherry, Cindy has also been an active member in the community, working for the school district for almost three decades, and serving with Sherry on the Board. After Sherry and Cindy voted “no,” the district attorney and country sheriff started a public campaign to intimidate them into supporting McClung. As part of that scheme, the district attorney sent a bogus subpoena to the Board asking about old COVID-19 payments authorized by McClung’s predecessor. (This was likely just a distraction to take the focus off McClung.) That subpoena was served on Ashley Fore, who grew up in Escambia County and now works as the payroll supervisor. Ashley shared the subpoena with her boss, who sent it to Cindy, who sent it to Sherry (along with the rest of the Board). Then, after more public threats by the sheriff and district attorney, Don Fletcher, a journalist for Atmore News, published a story disclosing the subpoena and highlighting the coordinated attack against anyone who questioned McClung. In response, the district attorney, the sheriff, and his deputies went after Sherry, Cindy, Ashley, and Don—the “Atmore Four.” The powers-that-be had the Atmore Four arrested and charged with felonies, their cell phones seized, and even tried to have Sherry impeached for their political disagreement. That retaliation violates the First and Fourth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. So now, the Atmore Four are teaming up with the Institute for Justice to sue the local Escambia County officials responsible for violating their constitutional rights.