Former Auburn Cop’s Ticket & Arrest Quotas Case Dismissed

In July 2013, Reason TV
reported on former police officer Justin Hanners, who exposed
ticket and arrest quotas in Auburn, Ala. He provided Reason TV with
audio recordings that backed up his claims,
sparking outrage amongst the citizens of Auburn and even
nationwide.

Hanners brought his case to court, saying he was fired for
speaking out about the quotas. On Monday, U.S. District Judge W.
Harold Albritton
dismissed his case. Judge Albritton ruled that Hanners did not
provide adequate evidence to back up his termination claims, and
that the defendants [City of Auburn, Alabama; Thomas Dawson; and
Charles Duggan] had grounds for firing Hanners.

The Defendants have reiterated numerous times that the Plaintiff
was terminated primarily  because he recorded conversations
without disclosing the recordings and because he violated a direct
order by discussing an internal affairs investigation.

These recorded conversations were the pivotal point that
informed the public about Auburn’s “numerical goal for contacts” as
former Police Chief Tommy Dawson called it. Dawson believed “the
officers were misconstruing a numerical goal for contacts as a
quota for citations,” according to Judge Albritton’s summary.
Side note: after retiring as police chief, Dawson recently ran
unopposed for city council and will
be taking his seat in November.

Hanners had argued that his actions were justified by the First
Amendment and are entitled to whistleblower protection. The judge
responded:

Plaintiff Hanners was a municipal, not a state, employee and,
therefore, is not covered by the State Employees Protection Act
(Count One). As to his Section 1983 claim (Count Two) alleging a
violation of his constitutional right to freedom of speech, he has
failed to present to the court sufficient evidence of a genuine
issue of material fact, from which any reasonable juror could find
that his speaking out in opposition to what he perceived to be a
quota system requirement in traffic enforcement was a substantial
motivating factor in any adverse employment action taken against
him.

At this point, it is unlikely that Hanners’ case will ever be
heard by a jury. Yet he says he will be releasing all related
documents, so that the public can decide for themselves.

“I’m working on making digital copies and I’ll start
putting all the documents out there on social media,” says Hanners.
His Facebook support page can be found here.

This has been huge blow to Hanners, who has already dedicated
the vast majority of his time and money towards fighting for
reform.

“During all this we’ve lost our home to foreclosure and had to
move in with family, what retirement funds I had invested have been
spent trying to pay bills, we are barely getting by and keeping our
two daughters fed,” says Hanners. “The city [has] also attacked my
character and integrity which hurts my chances for future
employment. All this to cover up their dirty little secret I
recorded and released to the public.”

Read Judge Albritton’s summary
here, and watch “Cop
Fired for Speaking Out Against Ticket and Arrest Quotas” for
the full story.