ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Ala. (WALA) - A small-town legal fight in Escambia County, Alabama is far from over.
Last year, four Escambia County residents were arrested and charged with revealing grand jury secrets. It was a case that drew national attention and raised discussions on press freedom.
School Board Member and Atmore News publisher Sherry Digmon, Atmore news reporter Don Fletcher, Escambia County School System bookkeeper Ashley Fore, and Escambia County School Board Member Cindy Jackson were arrested and charged with revealing grand jury secrets.
This past April, the Alabama Attorney General's Office dismissed the charges.
Now, with the help of the Institute for Justice, all four plaintiffs are suing the Escambia County District Attorney Stephen Billy and Sheriff Heath Jackson, arguing they abused their positions.
"The Institute for Justice is a public interest law firm and we protect individual rights across the country. Qualified immunity only applies when the police officer shouldn't have known that what they did violated the law, and what happened to our clients here was obviously unconstitutional. They were arrested for revealing grand jury secrets when there was no grand jury," said Jared McClain, Attorney for the Institute for Justice.
The case is centered on a newspaper article published by the Atmore News concerning a criminal investigation into allegations that the Escambia County Board of Education misspent federal COVID-19 relief funds.
The civil complaint argues that the current superintendent at the time,
"A political dispute over who should be the superintendent of schools in Escambia County landed all four of our clients in jail. None of them did anything wrong, none of them broke any laws, but that didn't matter to the top law enforcement officers in Escambia County," added McClain.
When school board member Cindy Jackson didn't vote to extend the current superintendent's term, that's when she says things took a turn.
"It didn't go the way the Sheriff and Steve Billy wanted-- they felt like they could intimidate us. I nodded to the Sheriff and he said 'we're on different sides.' On the 23rd of October is when mine and Sherry's phone was seized," said Jackson.
The plaintiffs say they want their story to be heard. More than that, they say they're seeking restitution.
"Our families have suffered, our children and spouses, our loved ones have suffered. And now, with the help of the institute, hopefully our story will be told--wholly, and everyone will see that indeed we did nothing wrong," said Fore.
"Throughout this, people have asked 'aren't you afraid they're going to come after you again?' And as Don said, if you're at home watching TV and reading a book and you hear a car door, or Heaven-forbid there's a knock at your door, the fear of additional charges was always there," said Digmon.
"Up until now, we didn't have a wait to seek vengeance or retribution for this, then IJ contacted us and stepped in and thank God. We're able now to have a voice and hopefully get Mr. Billy, Sheriff Jackson and Ms. McClung on the witness stand," added Fletcher.
The lawsuits seeks to award the plaintiffs monetary and punitive damages in an amount in excess of 75 thousand dollars to be proven at trial... as well as nominal damages.
FOX10 News reached out to Escambia County District Attorney Stephen Billy who says he has no comment at this time.
FOX10 News also reached out to Escambia County Sheriff Heath Jackson and we have yet to hear back.