The American Civil Liberties Union is suing 4 Lexington County judges and Lexington County’s Sheriff.

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon and Judges Gary Reinhart, Rebecca Adams, Albert John Dooley, III, and Robert Madsen are named as defendants.

The ACLU claims the judges and sheriff violated its clients’ constitutional rights by wrongful imprisonment.

Brown v. Lexington County cites violations of the US Constitution’s 4th, 6th, and 14th Amendments against plaintiffs Twanda Marshinda Brown and Cayeshia Johnson.

The ACLU challenges the unlawful use of “bench warrants” to arrest and jail poor people who cannot afford to pay courts.

The ACLU says this violates their rights to due process, equal protection of the law, counsel and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.

“The US Supreme Court ruled more than 30 years ago that locking people up merely because they cannot afford to pay court fines is contrary to American values of fairness and equality embedded in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the ACLU said on their website.

In an appeal for immunity against the charges, judges ruled immunity could not be determined without further investigation.

“The judges and sheriff, in their appeal, essentially claim they were just doing their jobs,” said ACLU Communications Director Jessica McFaden in an email to the Chronicle.

ACLU Legal Director Susan Dunn said her clients were jailed because of nonpayment of fines, but were never given a chance to prove their inability to pay.

Dunn says this policy disproportionately targets the poor and minorities.