Back in March, Sheriff Jeff Hobby got it into his head that because he was the sheriff around these here parts, he could pass right over any and all rights of citizens by locking down Worth County High School in Georgia and forcing 900 students to submit to an invasive search. The sheriff and two of his deputies were very quickly indicted. A human rights group advocated on behalf of the students and a class-action lawsuit was filed arguing that Sheriff Hobby and the 40 officers he brought with him had violated the students’ Fourth Amendment and 14th Amendment rights. The Southern Center for Human Rights says that a settlement is quickly being reached between Georgia’s Worth County and the 900 students.
A proposed multimillion dollar class settlement has been reached in K.A., et al. v. Jeff Hobby, et al., a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging a suspicionless mass search of approximately 850 public high school students by Worth County Sheriff’s deputies on April 14, 2017. In this lawsuit, Plaintiffs alleged that Sheriff Jeff Hobby and his deputies violated the United States and Georgia Constitutions by conducting intrusive searches of the bodies of hundreds of students without probable cause. The total settlement fund will be $3 million, which is the limit of the defendants’ insurance policy.
Earlier this week, Gov. Nathan Deal suspended Sheriff Jeff Hobby by executive order pending the outcome of his legal case or until the expiration of his term of office, whichever comes first. Hobby faces charges of sexual battery, false imprisonment and violation of oath of office, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Hobby’s attorney, Norman Crowe Jr., told the newspaper last month that the sheriff was at the raid but did not conduct body searches. “The sheriff’s position is that he’s not guilty,” Crowe said. “He’s committed no crime.”
It feels like he really committed a crime though, doesn’t it?
By the way, the “search” turned up no drugs. And if the search had turned up all of the drugs, it would still be illegal.