Washington ( CNN ) -- Federal civil rights lawyers filed suit Wednesday against Meridian , Mississippi , and other defendants for operating what the government calls a school-to-prison pipeline in which students are denied basic constitutional rights , sent to court and incarcerated for minor school infractions . The lawsuit says children who talk back to teachers , violate dress codes and commit other minor infractions are handcuffed and sent to a youth court where they are denied their rights . It 's the first time a jurisdiction has been charged under a law designed to protect the due process rights of juveniles in such circumstances . 2010 : Feds accuse Miss . county of rights violations . Also among the defendants were Lauderdale County , judges of the county 's Youth Court and the State of Mississippi Division of Youth Services . About 6,000 mostly African-American students attend grades kindergarten through 12 in a dozen schools in the Lauderdale County School District . About 86 % of the district 's students are African-American , but all of those referred to the court for violations were minorities , the government suit said . The federal action came more than two months after the Justice Department warned local and state officials that they had 60 days to cooperate or face a federal lawsuit . Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin said Wednesday that Mississippi officials had failed to cooperate with the eight-month investigation . `` We had no choice but to file suit , '' Austin said , giving examples of what he alleged are unconstitutional actions taken by the school district and court : . • Children are handcuffed and arrested in school and incarcerated for days at a time without a probable cause hearing . • Children detained wait more than 48 hours for a hearing , in violation of constitution requirements . • Children make admissions to formal charges without being advised of their Miranda rights . • Children are not routinely granted legal representation during the juvenile justice process . Austin said Wednesday that Meridian is not the only location in the country with such a system . However , he said , it is the only one to date where local authorities have not been fully cooperative with federal investigators . He pointed to Shelby County , Tennessee , as a school system where complaints had been received but where local officials had been fully cooperative with the Justice Department . Mississippi officials did not have an immediate response to the lawsuit .
Federal civil rights lawyers sue Meridian , Lauderdale County , agencies . The state of Mississippi and the city of Meridian, Miss. are suing each other over a new law that requires people to use bathrooms corresponding with their biological sex at birth. Youth Court sees minorities disproportionately , lawsuit says . Justice Department had warned officials about lawsuit .