Media Contact: Amy Xu, Senior Counsel
Email: AXu@trialimpact.org
Website: www.trialimpact.org
Trial Impact Project Settled its 1983 Case Against Denham Springs Police Department with Title VI Racial Discrimination Litigation Continuing Against Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office
LIVINGSTON, LOUISIANA – May 5, 2026 – The Trial Impact Project along with the ACLU of Louisiana’s Justice Lab and the Southern Poverty Law Center have settled a lawsuit, originally brought against both Denham Springs Police Department and the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. The settlement constitutes an important advancement in protecting individuals subjected to routine traffic stops from racially discriminatory treatment.
In late May 2021, Alexander Clark was pulled over in the dead of night by deputies from the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office for an alleged turn signal violation. He was 67 years old at the time, walking with a limp from prior football injuries after along day’s work on a home renovation. Mr. Clark was surrounded and harassed by armed law enforcement, who seized Mr. Clark’s gas money from his pocket and took him into custody when he tried to obtain his money back.
Trial Impact Project and the ACLU of Louisiana’s Justice Lab sued the Denham Springs Police Department and the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office for violating -- and conspiring to violate -- Mr. Clark’s civil rights. With Southern Poverty Law Center as co-counsel, and after surviving multiple motions to dismiss where the defendants sought to avoid accountability, federal district court Judge John W. de Gravelles ordered the Defendants to enter into settlement talks with our client, Mr. Clark, shortly before trial. As a result, we favorably settled all claims against Denham Springs Police Department, and we are continuing to pursue litigation against Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard and his deputies, Deputies Jean Hotard and Calvin Bowden.
“The racial disparities prevalent in non-safety traffic stops that led to this lawsuit are not anomalous,” said Marjorie Menza, Senior Attorney and Fellowship Director at Trial Impact Project. “Mr. Clark is an extraordinary person. Getting to know him and be part of his fight for justice for Black drivers in Livingston Parish is a privilege. We are glad to have come to an agreement with Denham Springs, and we look forward to continuing to litigate the remaining claims.”
Through the course of litigation thus far, Trial Impact Project has introduced expert statistical analyses of traffic stops as well as expert evidence on the long-term racial trauma effects of racist policing. Trial Impact Project was able to show through statistical analysis that Black drivers within Livingston Parish are nearly 5times as likely to be stopped and ticketed for minor traffic violations than non-Black drivers. Parish-wide, they are seven times as likely to be ticketed and then “upcharged” with a criminal offense than non-Black drivers.
“The way the deputies treated me that night—for supposedly not using my turn signal to stop and get gas—I thought I was going to die. This has to end,” said Alexander Clark, the Plaintiff in the lawsuit.
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The Trial Impact Project, formerly known as the Social Justice Legal Foundation, develops civil rights and social impact cases for trial. Working with communities who have historically been denied access to justice, we translate their experiences to the courtroom, unearth the facts to create a public record, and train a new generation of impact litigators to fight for accountability in court—from investigation to verdict.
