70 Million - Highway Robbery: How a Small-Town Traffic Trap Became a Legal Black Hole

This week on Making Contact, we bring you a story from our podcast partners, 70 Million titled Highway Robbery: How a Small-Town Traffic Trap Became A Legal Black Hole. About 20 minutes north of Birmingham, Alabama, on Interstate 22, is the working-class town of Brookside. Its almost 1300 residents make it about the size of a large high school. According to the 2020 census, Brookside's population is mostly White and 21% are Black. On paper, it's a lot like other small towns in this part of Alabama. That is, until 2022, when Brookside became infamous for, of all things, a traffic trap.

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John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist - Sandra Harris - Town Hall Speaker 1 - Ashley - Leah Nelson, research director for the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice - Bill Dawson, a criminal, and civil rights lawyer from Birmingham - Adam Danneman, the head of the Public Defender's office in Jefferson County - Joanna Weiss 

70 Million Staff:

Episode Reporter: Rhana Natour Editor: Monica Lopez and Juleyka Lantigua Host: Mitzi Miller Sound Designer: Erica Huang Photo Editor: Michelle Baker Staff Writer and Designer: Kori Doran Lead Fact Checker: Haylee Millikan Lead Producer: Pamela Kirkland Episode Photographer: Amarr Croskey Creator/Executive Producer: Juleyka Lantigua Making Contact Staff: Hosts:  Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Senior Producer: Jessica Partnow                                                                                                          Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Learn More: 

70 Million  Sandra Harris - Grandmother accounts unjust arrest  AL.com Brookside Police Chief Resigns  Target Speed Traps   Class Action Complaint