First Amendment Beats Police Defendants
Episode #55
Today on Legalese we look at two recent cases that pit private citizens and the First Amendment against qualified immunity and police officers who believe themselves to be above the law.
In Jordan v Adam’s County Sheriff’s Office a man was arrested for criticizing two shitty cops who got very upset when their inflated sense of authority was questioned.
In Bailey v Iles we find a man whose only “crime” was to post a joke on Facebook. Which was considered enough of a crime by the Rapides Parish Police Department in Louisiana to send a SWAT team to arrest him and charge him with violating a state anti-terrorism law.
In both cases the Tenth Circuit and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals (respectively) would find in favor of these two citizens while holding the actions of these police to be so unreasonable these officers would not be allowed to cower behind claims of qualified immunity.
Show Notes Page for “First Amendment Beats Police Defendants” – https://constitutionallaw.substack.com/p/episode-55-first-amendment-beats
