Earlier this week, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s grant of qualified immunity to police officers who used an unconstitutional law to arrest and prosecute a citizen-journalist. The reversal means the citizen-journalist, Priscilla Villarreal, can now seek justice for her unconstitutional arrest by Laredo, Texas, police. As part of its … Continue reading 5th Circuit reverses qualified immunity for police who arrested citizen journalist
Tag: qualified immunity
This legal fight started for Kevin on February 2, 2019, when he was at a restaurant asking questions about a drunk driving car crash that injured the mother of Kevin’s child. There, Kevin encountered the father of the driver involved in the crash—Department of Homeland Security Agent Ray Lamb. Displeased that Kevin was asking questions that could get his son into trouble, Agent Lamb resolved to stop Kevin. With his gun drawn, Lamb jumped out of a truck, yelling that he would “put a bullet through” Kevin’s “f—ing skull” and “blow his head off.” At the time, Kevin was in his car, getting ready to leave the restaurant. The agent tried to enter Kevin’s car by hitting the driver’s side window with his gun. Failing to break through, Lamb tried to shoot Kevin, but his gun malfunctioned.
In all three cases, the actions of federal police were so egregious that they were denied qualified immunity by lower courts. But in all three cases, the appeals courts threw out the constitutional claims, effectively granting the officers absolute immunity because they worked for the federal government.
DonnyFerguson.com 