Mississippi sheriff aims to avoid liability from federal lawsuit over torture of Black men

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi sheriff who leads the department where former deputies pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for the torture of two Black men has asked a federal court to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him. Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker were abused in an episode of extrajudicial violence that even the sheriff they’re suing called the worst case of police brutality he had ever seen. But Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey’s attorney argues Jenkins and Parker’s $400 million lawsuit should be dismissed because the sheriff is entitled to “qualified immunity.” It’s a legal concept that often shields police officers from civil penalties for alleged abuses.