U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday by two men claiming their constitutional rights were violated by the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office.
Plaintiffs Clifton H. Jones and Jerry D. Nance, both of Pickens County, Ala., were arrested at 5:33 p.m. on a Saturday, April 5, 2008, as they were buying supplies for a camping trip, according to their attorney, Jeff Navarro.
An unidentified person had called 911 and complained that suspicious persons were buying pseudoephedrine pills, which can be precursors to the manufacture of methamphetamine, according to Aycock”s opinion.
Although charges were eventually dropped, the men were held five days, until Wednesday, April 9, 2008, without opportunity to make bail, which they argued violated the county”s 48-hour hold policy and their constitutional rights to a fair and speedy trial.
The plaintiffs sued the county, the sheriff”s office, Sheriff Butch Howard and Investigator Ivan Bryan for actual and punitive damages and attorneys” fees and costs to be determined by the court.
Aycock issued the order for summary judgment along with her opinion, which rejected the plaintiffs” arguments from the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and 14th Amendments.
In her opinion, Aycock determined that the county was justified in keeping the plaintiffs in jail because a judge was not available part of the time and Bryan had filed the necessary paperwork as soon as was possible.
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