“Given the documented and admitted misconduct of multiple Rankin County officers, which spans the course of two decades, the lack of transparency is deeply troubling,” said ACLU of Mississippi Racial Justice Staff Attorney Ayanna Hill in a statement.
The “Goon Squad” became nationally known in 2023 after two Black men, Eddie Parker and Michael Corey Jenkins, were viciously physically and sexually abused in a home by six former Rankin County law enforcement officers. One of the officers shot Jenkins in the mouth and both Parker and Jenkins were then framed for crimes neither committed.
Public reporting on the case, as well as public commentary obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice, revealed patterns of misconduct that included torture, violence and coerced confessions from other members of the public.
“We submitted a Public Records Act request in the summer of 2025 to the Rankin County District Attorney's Office seeking information primarily about the review of records and cases affected by Rankin County Sheriff's Department misconduct, the quote-unquote ‘goon squad,’” said Korbin Felder, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights.
However, ACLU attorneys and Felder received just one response from the DA’s office: an email sent to a journalist that did not contain information that should have been accessible under Mississippi’s Public Records Act.
The suit claims that although the DA told a journalist that the department had done extensively reviewed cases after the “Goon Squad” scandal came to light, the office did not disclose how many cases were reviewed, decisions reached or if some cases were dismissed.
“We only sued after the DA's office and Rankin County made it clear they're not going to disclose anything,” he said. “All of this is undisputed. The egregious misconduct by these deputies is known. The question is, how did it impact these criminal convictions? Public records laws don't contain an exception for law enforcement records solely.”
The affidavit references Robert Shinstock, who is currently serving a 40-year sentence. He was convicted in part due to testimony from Chief Inspector Brett McAlpin, “the leader of the Goon Squad.” According to court documents, Shinstock has accused McAlpin of beating and threatening him with sexual assault during his arrest.
In an earlier appeal to his conviction, Shinstock accused McAlpin of conducting a warrantless raid of his home. The Supreme Court of Mississippi ultimately upheld Shinstock’s original conviction.
The lawsuit alleges that the DA’s office intentionally withheld evidence from victims that could have assisted them in court.
“I think the important thing to keep at the forefront is that there are real victims ,” Felder said. “People who are still incarcerated in Mississippi Department of Corrections custody. Or people who are living with the consequences of criminal convictions. They deserve some level of transparency. Someone should look into their convictions.”
The Rankin County District Attorney’s office declined MPB’s request for comment.
