The police officers who arrested a Black pastor while he watered his neighbor’s plants can be sued, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, reversing a lower court judge’s decision to dismiss the pastor’s lawsuit.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the three officers who arrested Michael Jennings in Childersburg, Alabama, lacked probable cause for the arrest and are therefore not shielded by qualified immunity.
Qualified immunity protects officers from civil liability while performing their duties as long as their actions don’t violate clearly established law or constitutional rights which they should have known about.
Jennings was arrested in May 2022 after a white neighbor reported him to police as he was watering his friend’s garden while they were out of town. The responding officers said they arrested Jennings because he refused to provide a physical ID. Body camera footage shows that the man repeatedly told officers he was “Pastor Jennings” and that he lived across the street.
Yeah, the cops are assholes, but what about the neighbor who was so petrified of a black man watering a garden that
heshe called the cops? Especially since said black man lived across the street? It seems absurd to me that this neighbor, who is so vigilant about protecting and watchinghisher neighborhood, didn’t recognize the guy from across the street.These stories always start with a nosy, racist neighbor, who never faces any consequences for starting it all.
There will always be ignorant asshole neighbors. It’s law enforcement’s responsibility to uphold your right regardless of what calls they get. If they’d investigate more before taking action they might get more trust from the public.
It’s Alabama.
This is exactly Why I’m conflicted about doxxing.
Social pressure picks up where the legal system stops; it’s the thing that encourages good manners and politeness, because those can’t (and shouldn’t be) be regulated. Shaming is a powerful force, and can be a force for good.
Shaming can also be a force for ill, and the downsides of doxxing probably outweigh the upsides. But still… I think we’re missing a mechanism that would normally moderate bad social and ethical behaviors like this.
The fact that you are conflicted about doxing is troubling.
Especially considering how often its done harm to innocent people. Probably more often than anyone you would consider an acceptable target.
All you need to know about doxxing is the origin of the phrase “we did it, reddit!”
who never faces any consequences
Hatred doesn’t face consequences because hatred is a mainstream and perfectly acceptable political position.
I realize that this sort of thing elicits more sympathy in America, but the fact that he’s a pastor is irrelevant. That should not have happened to anyone. It was an injustice independent of what he does on Sundays.
Well you see, being black in America means guilty until proven less guilty. Every story about the justice system harming a black person needs extra fluff to make the black person more sympathetic. Otherwise the predominantly white population can’t relate. It’s not like the police would arrest them for being a good neighbor.
That’s the sad truth. That he’s a pastor is what, for some reason, makes this unjust. If he was, say, an accountant, would this even be in the news?
They need extra reasons to think critically. There are still those that think George Floyd deserved to be killed on the street because of his criminal past and drug addiction. Or the recent executions of known innocent black men. Most white southerns and Republicans still like a good old lynching.
I know. It just makes me so sad that they can’t look at a black person and recognize them as a human being. They need this extra justification.
Just Another case of doing normal things while dark. It’s crazy to me. How many years more until this idea gets diluted to the void?
That lower court judge needs to be looked into.
Bet he’s white and republican.
White? Check.
Nominated by GW Bush? Check.
Looks EXACTLY like the stereotypical Southern racist redneck? Check.
We all knew it, but confirming it seemed like the right thing to do.
“Looks like a stereotype” is exactly what started this mess. Be better than that.
They sure are willing to waste a lot of taxpayer money making sure cops can’t get sued.
